March 22 – A Lowly Mind (Philippians 2:1-11)

“[He] made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.” (Philippians 2:7)

IN WORD:
Human beings rarely aspire to become nothing. Most of us want to be “somebody.” We want to make a name for ourselves, or at least to succeed at our goals. We may not have set our sights very high, but we have set them somewhere. We want a good reputation, plenty of affirmation, and a satisfying life. We’re trying to climb higher.
The mind of Jesus will take us in the opposite direction. Think of what He exchanged in order to serve us in our fallenness — all the things the devil tempted Him with, like kingdoms and immediate glory (see Matthew 4:1-11); a display of His own deity in the face of those who mocked and ridiculed Him; and, perhaps the thing we can most relate to, a pain-free existence. Jesus voluntary accepted pain, humiliation, contempt, and disgrace. Why? Because it is in the very nature of God to serve and to love. And humanity, in our fallenness, needed such love.
Jesus’ mind found satisfaction in deferring to other’s needs. He didn’t cling to deity because, in the long run, a demonstration of power would be less satisfying than a demonstration of character. The godly agenda aims for wholeness and unity over authority and comfort. The divine program for exaltation and glory is to go through humility and meekness to get there.

IN DEED:
If our minds are ever to be transformed into the likeness of Jesus, we have to learn to think that way. We must embrace holding the welfare of others to be more valuable than our own. We must embrace service, working for the benefit of each other rather than trying to get ahead ourselves. And we must humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God in order for that hand to lift us up.
When we pray for Christlikeness and then aim for the aspirations of our fallen human nature, we are undermining our own prayers. We have not embraced the mind of Jesus. But if we readily accept servanthood and the value of others, we bear a striking resemblance to Him.

“Our Lord lived His life . . . To give the normal standard for our lives.” -Oswald Chambers-