EXAMPLES. Philippians 2 Our Lord Jesus Christ came to serve and give His life for others. He lived and died for others. God the Father sent His only begotten Son into the world for others, so that His grace might save them. It is only right that we also live and seek ways to bless others. We have a new life in which we stand firm in the Spirit with strength, love, and Christlikeness that should display the grace of God. The root of the attitudes and actions in God’s people starts in our minds. “As a man thinks in his mind, so is he.” What I think about will shape the person I am before the world.
The attitude of Christ serves as an example of a submissive mind. In grace, He came, and although He was rich, for our sake He became poor and humbled Himself to take the place of hopeless, sinful men and women by dying for us. He went to “the death of the cross” from heaven’s highest place. He came in humility and had every right to expect the same mind to be found in me. He was the Highest of the high; to Him, all seraphim and angels bowed in reverence and worship. For Him to leave such glory and be found in the fashion of a man here below was an act of unparalleled grace, and my soul will forever be amazed that the Lord of glory humbled Himself so much that upon the cross, He tasted death for every man.
Not one person can ever say He never experienced pain like mine. He suffered in His body, soul, and spirit when He “became sin for us, He who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” Such a humble act was a choice He made from His own submissive mind in obedience to the will of the Father. How much more should I, a sinner who had no claim on God at all, humble myself to meet the needs of God’s people even when they fall?
The apostle Paul is an example to me of a brother who, even while in jail, was willing to sacrifice and suffer for the benefit of others, even when some saints had failed. He understood their danger of falling into a trap and losing their identity as children of God, meant to represent Him here on earth. He couldn’t go where they were, so he sent some other men to learn about their condition and put his mind at ease.
Timothy, despite being a young man, was blessed with a servant’s mindset and a heart full of love for God’s people. He had submitted himself to Paul’s leadership and was willing to go, even though he wasn’t sure what he would find when he arrived in Philippi. When a man has received servant training and is ready and willing to do what is asked, he is someone you can trust. He will not be prideful but will rejoice when seeing God at work in His people.
A brother like Epaphroditus, who has proven his faithfulness and demonstrated his trustworthiness through experience, knew what it was to labor and serve as a soldier in the Lord’s army. He was someone who could help the Lord’s people maintain balance because he genuinely cared for them and would not be demanding. When needed, he could easily relate to them in their testimony as a community and their suffering.