
I talk a lot about the Old Testament books and stories I enjoy the most, but I have my New Testament favorites as well. The top of my list is Philippians. My "life verse" has always been Philippians 1:21, "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain", but this book has so much more to offer. Among the many highlights is a charge to approach life with the mindset of Christ.
Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:5)
What follows is a summary of Christ's nature, beginning with his 'being' and 'form' as divine, continuing through his life of humble obedience, and finishing with Christ's death and glorious resurrection. It's motivating. It's convicting. It's captivating. And its easy to read the whole thing and not have the foggiest clue what it means practically.
So what does it mean? At a 30,000ft view, this scripture calls us to look at the totality of Christ's nature which is different from how many view being "Christ-like". Due to our human nature, and our limited ability to ponder everything God is, we tend to focus on specific attributes of God to mimic. Naturally, the ones we find harder to imitate we cast to the wayside. What Philippians 2:5-11 does is summarize the totality of Christ's nature and then charges us with the awesome task of seeing our lives through the same lens.
What an utterly terrifying prospect. To see the world as something foreign, regarding our purpose for existing as being for a kingdom unknown to the human mind and unseen by human eyes? To consider ourselves as humble servants, regarding ourselves as lower than those around us? To be willing to give everything in the name of God's glory? Who can live up to that?!
Thanks be to God... "he gets us". Just as how Christ understood Peter would reject him and Thomas would doubt him, Christ knows we will fail time and time again to act with an attitude like his... and he still loves us. That's how you can tell that he's God and we're not.
What attitude do you hold? Does it reflect a Christly mindset or something more worldly? If you fail... when you fail... know that Christ knows us and loves us still the same. So take each moment as a new opportunity to rise to the occasion of seeing a fallen world as worth saving, much the same as Christ.
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