Ep. 16 | The Mind of Christ (pt. 3) | Philippians

Listen in as Pastor Eddie Blalock shares today’s daily devotional featuring Philippians 2:5-11. Let’s be Formed by The Word together!

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Transcript

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Welcome to Formed by the Word, a podcast where we don't just read the Bible, we invite it to shape our lives. In each episode, Pastor Eddie Vlaylock will provide daily devotionals seeking to connect real scripture to real life. We'll be starting with the book of Philippians. This incredible letter clearly reveals how life in Christ shapes a resilient faith and a joy that is not dependent on circumstances. So wherever you're listening, whether you're driving, working out, or just scrolling for something meaningful, lean in, open your heart, and let's be formed by the word together.

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Well, I don't know about you, but uh I know that even when I have a good attitude, that good attitude can dwindle away quickly. Have you ever been in a great mood, maybe driving somewhere, singing along to the radio, feeling relaxed, everything's going great, and then what? You hit your first red light. Ah, no big deal. But you go a little further and then it's another, and then someone cuts you off, and then the driver in front of you sits still when the light turns green, and suddenly the same person who was singing worship songs five minutes ago is gripping the steering wheel like they're qualifying for a NASCAR. Nothing major happened, just people doing irritating little things, and that's the things that destroy that joy and that peace that we sometimes have. Joy doesn't usually collapse because of disasters, it chips away. It's being chipped away every day by everyday frustrations with everyday nouns such as people, places, and things. Well, attitude really is important. I heard a story one time about two salesmen who were sent to a remote island. It's an old story, but I think it bears telling again. The first wires came back from this remote island from the first salesman that says, quote, no one wears shoes here. I'm coming home. Zero opportunity. And shortly after, a note comes from the second salesman who says, No one wears shoes here. Huge potential. Send me more inventory. Same situation, different attitudes. But the story, I think, is good because it shows us how quickly perspective shifts outcomes and how we all slip into the negative salesman mode sometimes. And we all need adjustments as we see these attitude issues, and we need adjustments to see the possibilities. And as our good attitude is chipped away at all through the day, we need to get it back on track. We all need attitude adjustments. We saw that yesterday. The goal, the bar for our attitude is to have the attitude of Christ. But what does that attitude look like? Well, yesterday we saw first two attitudes, or the two things we observe about Christ's attitude, and that was one, that he had an attitude that was not selfishly ambitious, right? And then we saw second that his attitude was an attitude that serves. Today I want us to go further and look at the next three things. Number three, we notice that the attitude of Christ is an attitude of humility. Verse 8, Philippians chapter 1 says that he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. We read that yesterday. He became obedient to the point of death. He humbled himself. Indeed, Jesus' attitude was humility. Indeed, he humbled himself. He was humble in that he took the form of a man and not a more glorious creature like an angel. He could have taken any form that he chose. He was humble in that he was born into an obscure, oppressed place. He was humble in that he was born into poverty among a despised people. He was humble in that he was born as a child instead of appearing as a mighty man. He was humble in submitting to the obedience appropriate to a child in a household as he grew in stature and favor. He was humble in learning and practicing a trade and in a humble trade at that. He was a builder. He was humble in the long await time until he launched out into his public ministry. Thirty years in the waiting. He was humble in the companions and the disciples he chose, just meek little fishermen, tax collectors, and zealots. He was humble in the audience that he appealed to, in the way he taught. He was humble in the temptations that he allowed and endured. He was humble in the weakness, the hunger, the thirst, the tiredness that he endured. He was humble in his total obedience to his heavenly Father and in his total submission to the Holy Spirit. He was humble in choosing and submitting to the death of the cross. He was humble in the agony of his death. And he was humble in the shame, the mocking, the public humiliation of crucifixion. He was humble in enduring the spiritual agony of sacrifice in the garden and on the cross. Surely his was an attitude of humility. But then Paul adds to this thought, it was also an attitude of unselfish sacrifice. Again to verse 8, it says he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even to death on a cross. So his attitude was not only humble, but also one of unselfish sacrifice. The death of the cross shows that there's no limit to what God will do to demonstrate his love and saving power to man. This was and forever will be the ultimate sacrifice ever made. Crucifixion was such a shameful death that it was not permitted for Roman citizens, such as the people of Philippi, even. A victim of crucifixion was considered by the Jews to be cursed by God according to their own law. A.T. Robertson called the death of the cross the bottom rung and the ladder from the throne of God. Jesus came all the way down to the most despised death of all, a condemned criminal on an accursed cross. Spurgeon added these words. He said, The lower he stoops, that is Jesus, the lower he stoops to save us, the higher we ought to lift him in our adoring reverence. Blessed be the name. He stoops and stoops and stoops. And when he reaches our level and becomes a man, he still stoops and stoops and stoops lower and deeper yet. What words? So we see this attitude of unselfish sacrifice, this attitude of humility, and that brings us to the last one, and that is this attitude that brings glory to God. His was an attitude, ours needs to be an attitude that brings glory to God. Verses 9 through 11. Listen to these words from Paul. He says, For this reason, God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. What words? What testimony? What a challenge. Our lives, our attitudes. Would they bring glory to God in such a manner? There's so much we need to say. And let me make a couple of quick applications before I close out. First of all, think about this. We all need attitude adjustments regularly. I talked about that yesterday, so I won't say much more about it except to remind you that Scripture repeatedly calls believers to adjust or to renew their attitudes or mindsets because we drift toward worldly patterns. Secondly, I think we see today attitude is a choice that we must re choose. Maxwell teaches that attitude isn't fixed, it's adjustable, and that all of us take responsibility for it regularly. But it's a choice that we make. Our attitude is our choice. And then finally, I think we learned this from the text today. If our attitude is going to be like Jesus' attitude, if we're going to have the mind of Christ, our minds must be driven by humility. Those are tough, I know, but I'm convinced they're very important in our lives. So the takeaway today is pretty simple. I jotted it down this way periodic attitude checks keep us aligned with our destination. We know where we're going. We have clear direction of our destination. And period attitude checks keep us aligned with that destination. I pray that today you will check your attitude and make changes as needed. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for reminding us of the importance of attitude. And we, Lord, invite you to speak into our lives and into our hearts today concerning our attitudes. I pray, O Lord, that we will not be short to check our attitudes and to change our attitudes. Lord, I pray that we'll be diligent to have the mind of Christ today in Jesus' name. Amen.

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Thanks for joining us today. We are so glad that you chose to spend a few moments with us in God's Word. If this episode has encouraged you, we ask that you leave us a review or maybe share this episode with a friend. Also, would you consider sending us a note to let us know what God is doing in your life? Pastor Eddie would love to hear from you. You can find this email in the show notes. Until next time, stay in the scriptures, keep following Christ, and allow your life to be formed by the Word.