Daily Dose of the Word of God - Philippians 2: 1-4

Kelly Day, Director of Coffee Break Bible Study

Transcript

Kelly Day  0:06  

Welcome to Elmhurst CRC's Daily Dose of the Word of God. It's Tuesday, May 12. Today's reading is from Philippians 2, 1 through 4. It's the season of Easter and we're living it forward, imitating Christ's humility.

Kelly Day  0:20  

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 

Kelly Day   0:52 

 
When I wake up in the morning, one of the first things I think about is my morning coffee. How excited I am for it and how I might not help make my kids breakfast so I can enjoy my first few sips peacefully. As I'm getting ready, my thoughts sometimes turn to what I might feel like wearing and what I might want to do with my free time. Then as I open the refrigerator, I hope my family left me some leftovers so I can have a good lunch. Maybe I can get my husband to run that errand for me so I can relax longer this evening and what show do I want to watch before bed? It's so easy to think about me. It's like I was born with a natural agenda to think about myself before others.

Kelly Day   1:38

 
Paul writes in Philippians a very different message to those who love Christ. He's saying that if you've ever been encouraged, loved or felt compassion from Christ, then here's the way to pay it forward: Encourage, love and have compassion on others. Let Jesus take care of you and you take care of the people around you. What if we replaced the time and effort we put into what we want and exchanged it with loving, encouraging and showing compassion to those around us. Let's start with our own families, but move beyond it to those around us. God might be calling us to the neighbor that needs help, the old friend who's struggling, the co worker that doesn't know Christ. What if your humble act of love to someone helped them experience Christ today? What if your compassion to someone that might not deserve it changed their view of Christianity? What if acting more like Christ and less like you was actually the greatest joy you've ever experienced?

Kelly Day  2:49  

Dear Lord our God, you know our selfish hearts and thoughts, you came down from heaven to live amongst us, yet did it differently - with love, compassion and encouraging people along the way. I pray that your Holy Spirit invades our hearts to desire your way of humility - putting others first. Selfishness seems to come so naturally to us. Renew our minds to want something better, something that brings lasting joy, serving you and your people, Lord. I pray today that each one of us listening will step outside of our natural state and into your humble Love. In Jesus name, amen.