Preferring Others

3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

Philippians 3:3-4

Are you familiar with these words?
They are found in Philippians 3, right before Paul urges his readers to take on the attitude of Christ.
The attitude of humilility which saw Him set aside His rights as God, come to earth in the likeness of man - in the form of a servant, and become obedient to the point of death on a cross for the forgiveness of all mankind.
Do you grasp the severity of that transaction???
God left His God-ness to become a sacrificial servant for the ones He created. The very ones who turned from Him in rebellion and deserved the death He came to die.
And that, Paul says, is the level of humility to which we ought to aspire.
In our lives - as we pursue the call of God to become more like Jesus - we must be willing to prefer others before ourselves. And that, my freinds, goes against everything our flesh seeks to fulfill.

I just finished a study of Galatians with my Precepts class, and the overwhelming message God spoke to my heart through it was my need to walk by the Spirit, so I will not carry out the desires of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16)
And, wouldn't you know? God is giving me daily opportunities to practice preferring others' needs over my own. It's as if He wants to test me to see if I really believe what I've been learning. If I trust Him enough to apply His Word even when it's difficult.

Have you been in this place, too???

With all my heart (That is, all my heart which has been made new by the One who makes all things new!) I want to be like Jesus. I want to reflect the love of God and the character of Christ to my friends, my family, and strangers I meet wherever I go. And so I pray, Holy Spirit, please lead me. Please enable me to walk where You walk. Please give me the grace to prefer others, to love sacrificially, and to serve like Jesus served.

So that's what's going on in my heart today. How are you doing???