Starting December 5th, service times are moving to Sundays at 8:30, 10, & 11:30 am!

Understanding can Lead to Grace

“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.
 
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!
 
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:3-11 NIV

 
I must confess. When I was in my late teens and early twenties, I had all kinds of plans and opinions about how children should be raised. I was certain that my ideas were the correct way and some of the actual parents around me were doing it all wrong.
 
Boy, did I get a wake-up call when I became a mother. IT’S REALLY HARD and sometimes you are put between a rock and a hard place – there is no way to win in the situation. Now, after experiencing some of the challenges of being a parent, I’m ashamed to think of how harsh and condemning my thoughts were towards those other parents. I needed more understanding. I needed to humble myself to adjust my perspective.
 
Jesus left all the Glory of Heaven to humble himself and take on human form so that we would know he fully understood our perspective. He walked a mile in our feet – not just our shoes. And then He died for us. The depth of love that He showed in doing those things is astounding to me!
 
And here in the passage above, He’s asking us to love others in the same way. To take sacrificial, drastic measures to make sure that we are understanding someone else’s perspective and acting in a way that puts their interests ahead of our own. To show them Grace.
Posted in

No Comments


Recent

Archive

 2024

Categories

Tags

no tags