Philippians 2:1-13 (NRSV)
Read Philippians 2:1-13 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 2If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, Verse 2make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Verse 3Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Verse 4Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Verse 5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, Verse 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, Verse 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, Verse 8he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death- even death on a cross. Verse 9Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, Verse 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, Verse 11and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Verse 12Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; Verse 13for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Devotion
Have you ever gone on a mission trip? Volunteered to be a Sunday school teacher, a confirmation guide or a camp counselor? If so, then you can probably relate pretty well to Paul's joyous hymn about servanthood. So often we sign up (or get signed up) to do one of these servant events expecting to pour ourselves out for the sake of our neighbor—to bless them through serving them.
But more often than not, at some point during the experience, we end up realizing that we are not only ones who are serving and blessing others, but in fact, we are the ones being served and blessed by the very ones we were trying to serve. Just when we think we have this whole Christian service thing all figured out, we look up to see Jesus the servant turning everything upside down again.
Prayer
Thank you Jesus, for not only showing us the way, but bringing us to Your Father through compassion and humility. Teach us your ways, O Lord. Amen.