“Selfless like Christ” (Philippians 2:1-5)
God has lavished us with His love, grace, and every good thing that we’ll ever need in living the imperfect life in an imperfect world so that we’ll have a solid foundation to also be able to do the same to others, reflect His love and grace, and be selfless like Jesus.
If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion, make my joy full by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind, doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit but in humility, each counting others better than himself, each of you not just looking to his own things but each of you also to the things of others. Have this in your mind which was also in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:1-5).
Let the believers consider these truths in verse 1:
If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion…
Consolation in Jesus
A life connected to Jesus brings joy to believers no matter what we are going through, no matter what situation we find ourselves in. Jesus is our consolation. We feel inexplicable joy even when our situation is not that okay. Our joy is welling up from deep within. It’s inexhaustible and unique because it’s from God.
Comfort in love
Our comfort, consolation, and joy is God’s love for us. It is this love that makes us feel confident, secure, and contented. That is why we no longer have to live loosely like a foolish person trying to prove something to ourselves and to others. Whenever we feel lonely, depressed, and already want to fall away, we remind ourselves of God’s love for us because God never changes in His love for us in intensity, extent, and depth.
We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God and God remains in him (I John 4:16).
Fellowship of the Spirit
Every believer has the Spirit of God in him.
He who keeps His commandments remains in Him; and He, in him. By this, we know that He remains in us by the Spirit which He gave us (I John 3:24).
That’s why we have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. As long as we allow the Holy Spirit to prevail in our lives and guide our every thought, word, and action, we will be fine and on the right track. We will not go astray and be deceived but will instead flourish. We know that God is with us because we allow His Spirit to work in us.
The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God (Romans 8:16).
At times, God the Holy Spirit even guides our mouths to pray articulately to God the Father when we are having difficulty putting into words what’s in our hearts. This is when He seems to be controlling our lips so that we utter the words in our prayer spontaneously, eloquently, and truly felt from the heart. And we know that that prayer reached the throne of God. The Holy Spirit also intercedes for us.
In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses; for we don’t know how to pray as we ought. But the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered (Romans 8:26).
Good will and concern for each other
We as believers can show this in various ways. If we fear appearing weak and awkward, we can do it with finesse but still in a way that glorifies God.
Considering the truths enumerated above, here are Paul’s reminders:
Okay. So God has given us all the consolation and assurance that we need so that we already have a foundation. How do we go about reflecting the same to our fellow people?
Be like-minded.
Make my joy full by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind (2).
Our differences can easily be worked out if we are uniformly guided by the precepts of the Word of God. Satan cannot easily attack us believers if we are united. That is why we should always be watchful of the devil’s divide-and-conquer tactic. When we quench the Holy Spirit by being sinful, we become mentally weak and vulnerable to Satan’s attacks.
Be humble.
Doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit but in humility, each counting others better than himself (3)
It’s probably innate to some of us to want to be recognized for something good that we do or are. However, the fellowship that we have as believers is not a platform for earthly aspirations of fame. We are all siblings here. We worship God truly and give Him all the glory. And we don’t just say that, but we see to it that that is always the case. Each of us is equally important in the body of Messiah just as the toenail is as important as the eyes. It is important that we are always filled by the Holy Spirit so that we are in the right spirit in doing the work of God.
Think of others.
Each of you not just looking to his own things but each of you also to the things of others (4)
We use the gifts that God gave us to be of service to fellow believers and also unbelievers. We work to heal the broken heart, repair the crushed soul, enlighten the confused minds, and nurture the spiritual infants, leading them to maturity in faith.
Think like Jesus.
Have this in your mind which was also in Christ Jesus (5).
In everything we do in the name of Jesus, we adopt the mind of Jesus. We emulate the way He looked at things, how He interacted with people, how He responded to difficult situations, how He reacted to deliberate provocations, and, overall, His default mode of thinking as a human. For one, He was always humble. He never had a haughty attitude.
For who is greater? One who sits at the table or one who serves? Isn’t it he who sits at the table? But I am in the midst of you as one who serves (Luke 22:27).
He exemplified this when He washed His disciples’ feet.
God lavished us, His children, with His love and grace and every good thing we’ll ever need in living the imperfect life in an imperfect world so that we’ll have a solid foundation to also be loving and gracious and selfless like Christ.
Passage by Passage: Random Passages
by: Marven T. Baldo
