Tag Archives: Be humble

PARTNERS WITH ATTITUDE

Bible Study, ,

Philippians 2:3-4 NLT
[3] “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. [4] Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.”

Three ways in which our attitudes matter… to avoid selfish attitudes which alienate us from one another and to cultivate the godly attitudes that foster the love and unity that keep us on track towards maturity in the church.

Paul fleshes out the attitude of the believer compared with the attitude of people in the world. How important that we take notice of these contrasts lest we allow the world’s attitudes to creep into the church.

Selfishness underpins worldly attitudes. Whatever ungodly people think, say, or do, their first consideration is to promote or protect themselves. Self-defence, for example, is one way of hiding the truth. Pride hates to be exposed. People blame, excuse, or lie to defend their reputation, alienating themselves from others instead of coming clean.

Selfish ambition causes people to climb on others to achieve their goals. The desire to Impress others often makes people dishonest, pretending to be more than they are. The more these attitudes creep into the church, the more artificial we become and the farther we drift from each other and from unity.

We can try to impress others through dishonesty or covering up our faults and failures but, eventually, the truth will come out. How much better to be transparent even when we are in the wrong. If holiness is so important to God, we must allow no taint of self to mar the fellowship of God’s people.

Paul encouraged humility, the attitude that is willing to be who we are because, first, we are all guilty of failure, so ptetandingvto be faultless is lying and, second, because honesty and confession keep us open to one another.

Our objective in the fellowship of the church family is to preserve unity and promote love. Selfish ambition, dishonesty, pride of one form or another, will muddy the love and unity we must promote as children of God.

Another way in which selfishness rears its ugly head is in the subtle attitude that we are better than others. It’s called “comparison.” When we compare ourselves with others in the fellowship, pride creeps in. If we consider ourselves better or worse , pride is at work. The underlying attitude is “Look at me!”

How often I catch myself thinking…,”Im not like that” …or, “I wouldn’t do that!” That’s pride. What about, “I’m not as good as…” or “I can’t do that.” Pride in reverse! Both attitudes alienate us from others.

It seems so easy for Paul to say, “Don’t do this…” or “Don’t be like that…” but what can I do to alter my disposition? My old nature, with its deeply entrenched selfishness, is still at work in me. All my efforts to think or act differently don’t work. There is only one solution… GRACE.

We can even change our attitudes through God’s grace. Hope is kindled in my heart, even if I don’t want to change, when I remember that outside of my union with Jesus, I can do nothing. If He wants me to change my attitude towards others, He will do the changing as I yield to Him because of our partnership. This is grace.

All the fruits that grow from our union with Jesus can only happen by God’s grace, His attitude of mercy and goodness to us.

Grace is available in abundant measure but we can only experience God’s grace when we reach the end of ourselves. God will never help us until we stop trying to do it ourselves and start trusting Him.

2 Corinthians 12:8-9 NLT
[8] “Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. [9] Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”

Did you notice Paul’s words, “Three times…”? This is the way God works. He often tests our determination before He acts for us. So, patience is another attitude we can add to our list of attitudes towards each other that we must cultivate. As difficult as applying these attitudes may seem, we trust the Lord that He is working to reproduce the image of His Son in us. And He will because He always partners with us to fulfill His purpose.

COMPARISON AND CONTEMPT

Christian Life, ,

Philippians 2:3-4 NLT
[3] “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. [4] Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.”

Have you ever considered how often we either compare ourselves to other believers or we treat others with contempt because they are not like us? These are two subtle attitudes that belong strictly to our old self and have no place in the way we think of one another in God’s kingdom.

What happens to the fellowship if we, as believers in Jesus, allow the remnants of our old self to creep back into our thinking? We begin to erode our unity by allowing barriers of mistrust, pride, or insecurity, to separate our hearts.

Competition is very much a part of some congregations. Positions, office, titles, are big on their agenda. Some even invent an office that does not exist in Scripture, God’s “generals“ i.e., intercessors. Intercession is an integral part of all prayer, not a specific title given to some.

1 Timothy 2:1 NIV
[1]” I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—”

What is the root of comparison or contempt? Once again, it’s the idol of self that imperceptibly replaces our pure worship of Jesus. Comparing ourselves with others means that we either see ourselves as better or worse than our fellow believers. We focus on our/their performance, gifts, or even the notion that we/they are superior in understanding God’s Word or receiving revelation or new insight into some truth of Scripture.

We think that seeing ourselves as less than another is humility. It isn’t! It’s an inverted form of pride. Whether we see ourselves as more or less than another, the focus is still on us! We keep looking at ourselves and want others to look at us too. When we put ourselves down in front of another, we are crying for approval and accolades.

We treat others with contempt to boost our own insecure morale. The more secure we are in God’s love for us, the less we need to elevate ourselves above others. Whether by comparison or contempt, we are constantly parading our need for the affirmation only God can give us. His approval, freely given to us because of Jesus, lays to rest all our need to put ourselves on display.

Ephesians 1:5-8 NLT
[5] “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. [6] So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. [7] He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. [8] He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.”

According to Paul’s adamant assertion, we have left these old attitudes behind and become brand new inside.

2 Corinthians 5:16-17 NLT
[16] “So, we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! [17] This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

How can we overcome this subtle tendency to slide back into the self-awareness that parades itself in front of others? By comparison with the world’s ways, which is to nurture self with all its demands, our obligation in this new life is to put self to death through the Spirit’s power, by focusing our attention, first, on Jesus, and then on the interests and needs of others.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 NLT
[14] “Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. [15] He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.”

God has given us a powerful motivation for putting ourselves to death, not literally but in our attitude towards others. Jesus gave His life for us. He calls us, by His grace, to give our lives for others. We show our love for Him by responding to the needs of others.

No one needs comparison. We are all unique and equally loved. God has no favourites. His love, mercy, and grace are freely available for all people. No one needs contempt. Contempt only degrades us at another’s expense.

Everyone needs to know God’s love by experiencing it through us who represent Him by the way we treat them.

Paul’s solution is twofold…put off and put on. Like the used garments we take off at the end of the day, we deliberately and purposefully “put off” the soiled attitudes of self-awareness and self-absorption.

Putting off means replacing old attitudes with new attitudes, like Jesus’s attitude to us, with loving thoughts and actions towards others.

It’s a slow process. The old nature’s automatic reaction is to think badly of others. We are programmed towards alienation and hostility. The first step is to acknowledge the source of our thoughts. This thought is not of God.

Step two is to choose to think new thoughts of understanding and love. Put Jesus in the mix. What does He think of us, and of the person we downgrade? Do I need to put someone else down to elevate myself?

No, we are both unique and precious to God. We can rest comfortably in who we are in union with Jesus, holy and beloved, and we can allow others to be who they are without judging them, their words, or behaviour. That prerogative belongs to Jesus alone.

What a big step towards the answer to Jesus prayer! We are already one in Him. Let’s live it out for His glory.