Philippians 2:1-11

1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Ethical Egoists (those who believe in everything serving the pupose of advancing yourself, that life is looking out for Number 1) would have a horrible time with this passage. Paul is advocating unity, but this is a deeper unity than one made from words on a document, or a treaty. This is a unity based in lov; Ghrist's love for us, but also our love for others. This unity is born out of the attitude that Christ had towards us.

Christ set aside his deity, his power and went humbly to the cross. John 18, 19 tell the story of that process and the people Jesus was surrounded by. He knew that all he had to do was speak and He'd go free. Yet He also saw the sin and the need for redemption. He looked on the sinners around Him and He looked at us and thought about us before Himself. Paul says that we are to have that attitude, that selflessness.

I don't know about you, being selfless is difficult. Over the years I have attempted to develop that attitude of thinking about others before myself and of loving and caring for those around. Yet I keep coming back to selfishness, to putting my needs and wants above others. If it's not he selfishness of being prideful of my academics, it's serving because then I get a pat on the back, or even the self pity that I can drop into. It all comes from putting my desires first.

Don't get me wrong, being selfless is not debasing myself. In fact, in Christ I find the very thing that makes my self worth something. It's when my self becomes more important than Jesus, than the love that should be a part of me as a child of God.

Okay, so let's take this wider... If individuals took the love of Christ seriously and started to act on it, the world would look different. Roommates wouldn't fight about chores, Baptists and Pentecostals wouldn't make doctrine such a divisive thing, and we'd care about those people on the street.

Challenge: Look at your life today. Where are you caring about yourself more than others? How do you develop the attitude of Christ in that area?