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| Giving Up Our Mirrors | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 13 2015, 10:18 AM (18 Views) | |
| Scarab | Mar 13 2015, 10:18 AM Post #1 |
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Scripture reading Philippians 2(NLT) Have the Attitude of Christ 2 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. 3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Reflection Give up our mirrors? For most of us, that would be hard to do. That’s not something we’re asked to do, but it makes me think about how too much scrutiny and self-examination can be disconcerting. It can make us think too much about ourselves and not enough about others. When we can forget about our own faces quickly and remember that God loves us as we are—in all our imperfections—then we can begin to “look out not only for [our] own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phil. 2:4). Augustine said that we get lost in loving ourselves but found in loving others. Put another way, the secret of happiness is not getting our face right but giving our hearts away, giving our lives away, giving our selves away, in love. Prayer: Father, may I think more of others today than I think of myself. May I lose my thoughts about myself in my thoughts of other people and their needs. A heart that is focused on others will not be consumed with self. Insight: Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians while he was under house arrest. He was waiting for a verdict that would either set him free or result in his execution. It was in these circumstances that he wrote about “consolation,” “comfort,” and “fellowship” (v. 1). Paul reminds the Philippians (and us) that these things come from our commitment to Christ. We have consolation in Christ, comfort from His love, and fellowship with the Spirit. All of our love for each other comes from following the example of Christ (vv. 2-5), which Paul explains in verses 6-11. |
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4:30 PM Jul 11