Bible Verse of the Day Friday November 25th, 2022

Philippians 2:3-4 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 others.

Selfishness is born out of disagreement, conflict, and prejudice that leads to pride, which in turn provokes and pressures people to seek after their plans and schemes instead of God's will. Contention and self-importance can lead to a division in the Body of Christ; many church splits have occurred because people demand their way or the highway, putting their needs before the needs of others. The moment we sincerely strive to see the other person's point of view is when we genuinely give them the respect due them.

Without humility, we can never relate to others because our eyes will be blind by our self-worth. In our natural beings, we will always have an inflated consideration of ourselves; nonetheless, God desires that we lift our assessment of the other person above ourselves. The worldly view that we should always put ourselves as number one goes as far back as the fall. When Paul penned this letter to the church at Philippi, humility was something to be shunned because it showed weakness. Sadly, this view is still alive and well at this writing. The Apostle Paul was not promoting some unworkable and impracticable assessment of life; he was saying that we should give the other person more consideration than we give ourselves. Our concern for the other person will naturally respond when we value others above ourselves.

Paul points out that selfish ambition is what we should shun; however, all ambition is not necessarily selfish. In God's eyes, there is ambition in life that is good and upright. When our goal is to surrender our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls to God and bring glory to Him, that is a worthy and virtuous ambition. That outlook will serve to create unity among God's people. When someone considers the other person above themselves, and the other person considers that person above themselves, there is a miracle from God that will occur. That is that there will be a community of people where no person is valued any better than another,

There would be a revival this world has never seen if this attitude were prevalent among all of God's churches. This attitude of selflessness is a challenge that Paul placed on the Christians at Philippi, and it is a challenge that we all should strive for today. For Christians to move forward in their spiritual growth, this is a test we must attempt to pass.