Day 32 | 40-Day Lenten Fast & Devotional

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. - Philippians 2:3-4

Good morning, good morning, good morning, grace and peace be unto all of you, my father's children. It is in fact day 32, or our 40 day Lenten devotional. This week we've been focused  with the thought and theme of humility. So if you have your swords with you, I'd love for us to concentrate our morning efforts from that  of the book of Philippians, the second chapter.  And I'm only going to read two verses or so  out of the second chapter, starting at verse number three.

Paul when addressing the church in Philippi was giving them the demeanor, the notion  of how we are to operate and act as it relates to one another.  In other words, how do we maneuver in this thing called life when dealing with people?  And he says, in verse number three,  “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, rather in humility, value others above yourselves.” Verse four, “not looking to your own interests, but each of you, to interest of others.”

This seems simple, but the truth of the matter is humility is really focused in on a place that allows you an opportunity here to focus on being right. I know that sounds very simple, but the truth is sometimes us being right is our attempt in order to get credit for being right. He says, listen, you can do the right thing with the wrong spirit. Did you know that?  Like you could actually be right and wrong at the same time. You could say something that's true at the wrong time for it being said. You can say something or maneuver in a place that is accurate in an inopportune place in space without receiving God's discernment on tact. And oftentimes what happens, especially in the church, is we use right as a moniker for us to do anything, any old kind of way. And what it says, verse three, listen,  what you need to do is do nothing out of selfish ambition. Even if it's the right thing, if the ambition behind it is selfish, that's not the right thing. In other words, sometimes we seek to be the hero or we seek to be out front, we seek to be seen. And God says, with everything that you do in humility, value others above yourselves. Now that sounds insane all by itself because what you're saying is, what I need you to do, place other people's needs above yours. Place other people's feelings above yours. Place other people's situations above yours in how you move and how you operate. So before you speak, before you act and or react, the concept is have I valued the plight or the concern of others or am I selfish? There's no mistake that there are certain decisions that we make in life which absolutely benefit us and us alone. And we have to be mindful of the areas and places that we don't take advantage of that.

Humility forces you to say, let me look at the big picture. Let me analyze all things before I speak, before I act,  before I react.  And that's a challenging thing for us because most of us will say,  my first impression is my best. Well, maybe taking a beat, taking a moment, allowing yourselves to maneuver in humility. Mainly because if you listen to the previous scriptures that  we've disseminated this week, it allows us an opportunity to see that God does the elevation, God does the exoneration. And so we don't have to seek the approval and or the lifting of others because that's God's job. And we can be prudent, we can be gracious, and we can ultimately be humble in our attempt to extend that same grace to others.

So, it's Thankful Thursday. Have an incredible one. I can't wait to see you tonight as we close out our Lenten meal experience by nature Bible study on this evening at six o'clock in the sanctuary. Can't wait to see you there. God bless you and good morning.