2Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.
3Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
5You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. (Philippians 2:2-5 NLT)
As I was reading today, I quickly evaluated my own life, and realized there are many areas where I probably fall short of this encouragement by Paul.
Do I really love everyone?
Am I really working together with other brother’s and sister’s in Christ with one mind and one purpose?
I am pretty sure I am selfish, at least almost all of the time.
I know I try to impress others.
If I say I am humble, then I it is probably false humility, Right?
Do I think others are better then me?
Do I look out for others, or only my own?
Paul says, “I must have the same attitude as Christ!”
Okay, so there is some sarcasm in my response above. I’m not sure we can really self evaluate some of this stuff. We truly need the Lord to examine our hearts, and show us. It also helps if you have a spouse who can be gentle and honest about these things. They often times know you best.
Regardless of what your spouse might even say, it ultimately matters what the Lord thinks. If we graded all of these on a scale of 1-10, and let’s say your spouse gave you a 6 through 8 on all of them, because none of us are perfect right? Then we all still have work to do because Jesus was an 11 on a scale of 1-10. He was perfect. He was always living these attributes out.
Now, I believe in grace and mercy. Without it there would be no hope. Today’s journal is not about legalism, black and white, or works. It is about reminding myself, and maybe those who read this that there are indeed goals. We should be working toward being like Christ. This is a checklist of sorts that can help us evaluate where we need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us improve. You should know, you will never get there on your own anyways. You will need the Holy Spirit to help you.
Daily Devotional 