How do we do this in real life?

Philippians 2:3-4 – Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

I was putting together my thoughts for some ministry work I’m doing with community leaders. This led me to this verse in Philippians (in relationship to part of the Great Commandment where Jesus tells us to love others).

The context for my notes was Marketplace Ministry – How does God want to use us in the marketplace? You could really expand this from “in the marketplace” to “in our whole life”.

As I pondered this verse, it struck me just how hard this is to really live out. Don’t you want to impress others at work? Isn’t this how we move ahead?

I don’t think this is saying to be a slacker – not at all. God calls us to give our best at work (Eph. 6:7). What I believe it is teaching is that we do not “use” people to get ahead. In fact, we go a step beyond and proactively look for ways to help those around us – we look out for their interests, too. And, we do this with a sense of humility – it’s not ploy, it’s who we really are (or are becoming as we allow God to work in our lives).

How do you see this verse in your life?
How does it challenge you?
What questions does it bring up?

You can reply through the “Comments” below. If you don’t have a Blogger account, just click on the “Anonymous” button at the bottom of the comments section.

/D

How do we learn to love?

One of the things my cirlce of friends have been talking a lot about lately is how do we get back to the foundational teaching of Jesus - love God, love people? This post encompasses both of these principles.

Whether you would consider yourself a Christ follower, Christian, religious or none of the above - most people believe the principles found in the Bible are good.

Let’s take some time, to look at the process Peter writes about that leads to loving all people:

2 Peter 1:5-7 ~
In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

Peter writes, “make every effort”. This is not some ho hum attempt at getting along, this is full blown commitment to grow in this way. And what’s the growth process (which, by the way, often overlap each other)?

Supplement your…

->Faith (Do I truly trust Jesus?)

-> Moral Excellence (Am I becoming more pure in my thoughts, words and actions?)

-> Knowledge (Am I gaining God’s wisdom to make better decisions?)

-> Self-control (Do I exhibit control over how I interact with others and issues?)

-> Patient Endurance (Am I more patient with people and circumstances?)

-> Godliness (Is my character becoming more like God’s character?)

-> Brotherly Affection (Am I laying my life down for my friends?)

-> Love for everyone (Do I truly love my neighbor?)

Here’s how I view this teaching: As I practice Moral Excellence by trusting Jesus (in Faith), it leads to gaining Knowledge. This Knowledge allows me to gain Moral Wisdom leading to Self-control. By not always just reacting to things around me, I learn to be more Patient; it enables me to Endure difficult times and people. As I Endure, my character becomes more Godly and my reverence/respect for God’s work in my life grows. Since God is Love – my Love begins to grow - first, for other Believers; then for all people. This is the essence of the Great Commandment – to love God and love people. In fact, my love for all people reveals my love for God.

The key to all of this is actually found in verse 3 of 2 Peter 1 - By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

We get to know God through reading the Bible, prayer, and interaction with His church – the people of God.

/D

Loving People

How can I love people more?

This has been a constant question in my life for the past six months or so. I believe that my two main purposes in life are to love God and to love people. The God part is hard when things get messed up in my life, but it’s a whole lot easier than the “loving people” part.

I trust God, I don’t trust people (at least not the way I trust God).

But, do I have to trust people to love them? Not if I’m attempting to love them unconditionally.

I watch the movie Georgia Rule this week. My first thought after it was over was, “That didn’t do much for me.” But, then I started thinking about “Why?”. Without giving away the story line, the basis of the story is a family that’s dysfunctional and abusive. Thankfully, I did not have to deal with that growing up. But, it also means that I really don’t identify with people who have experienced this – because I’ve never taken the time to get to know them and to care about who they are.

All that has led me back to wondering how I can do a better job of loving the people around me. I think it really comes down to slowing down long enough to ask how they are doing and really wanting to hear the answer.