Christ Jesus…made himself NOTHING…

In our Bible study last night, our group read and discussed Paul’s letter to the Philippians. In chapter two he talks about the humility of Christ. Check this out…

Philippians 2:3-8 (NIV):

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

My car broke down this week. I had to pay my mechanic hundreds of dollars to put a new starter in it. My normal reaction to a situation like that would be…stress, anxiety, fear, anger, and entitlement. I just bought my car a year ago! It shouldn’t be breaking yet! BUT…The Lord reminded me that when I look at everything through the lens of eternity, replacing the starter in my car isn’t a big deal. He provided the money that I needed to be able to pay for it and gave me peace and humility when I didn’t have a car for a week. In our culture we have a sense of entitlement that is engrained into our thought process. We start to think that we “deserve” things and we put our needs before other people’s needs. So I praise Jesus, who was and is and always will be God, for making himself NOTHING, because the Lord gently knocks me to my knees and humbles me every time I am reminded of that.

Last night, our small group decided to pray through verse 3 this week and our goal is to pray that verse at least 4 times a day. I’d invite you to join us. The Lord’s already showing me my selfishness and I’ve only been praying for humility for 12 hours! We are so blessed that our God set the example and lived out what He calls us to live out. I’m so thankful for Jesus!

Author: Whitney Elliott