Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Philippians 2:1-4 HCSB
Our pastor often reminds us to use JOY as an acronym for putting Jesus first, others second and yourself last. Now I have learned that when I do this, I am less stressed. I am more joyful. It works.
When we find ourselves at odds with others, we need to consider the reason for our disagreement. Is it pride? Is it rivalry? Paul tells the Philippians in our scripture passage today to do nothing out of rivalry or conceit. We are told to humble ourselves. That is often hard to do. We are like spoiled brats often times and we just want what we want when we want it. Or perhaps I should say I am like a spoiled brat. I mean maybe it’s just me.
As I have encountered more and more challenges in my life, I have learned that a lot of the little things that used to bother me no longer matter. I have a plateful of stuff if I want to worry, so I don’t need to import anything else into the equation if you know what I mean.
If you don’t know what I mean, then I will explain it. In the last four years, I have had enough personal problems to keep me on my knees. I have not gone out looking for issues to add to my list of things with which I should concern myself. Issues that I might have wanted to stand up and fight about years ago are just no longer important to me. What is important is being in God’s will. I know that in order to do that I must humble myself and submit to Him. I must put Him first in my life and I must recognize the importance of others.
But I have noticed one thing, when I put the needs of others above my own and I serve the Lord through helping others, my worries fade into the background. I often times see that the problem that I thought was so big is miniscule compared to what someone else is going through. When I consider others more important than myself it rids me of my “me, me, me” problem.
If you are about to engage in a battle with someone whether it be physical, verbal, or through social media I ask you to stop and think about why you are doing this. Is it due to rivalry? Are you competing to see who is superior? Perhaps you want to prove that you are intellectually superior to this person? You can’t prove this if you engage in an argument. The only thing you can prove is that an idiot has brought you down to their level. Be careful that they don’t beat you to death with experience.
Is conceit your reason for engaging in battle with someone? Be very careful my friend, the definition of conceited is very proud or vain. Now, we know that the Lord hates pride and considers it an abomination (Proverbs 6:16-17). You definitely don’t want to go there.
We want to avoid being prideful and the only way we can do this is by humbling ourselves and considering others more important than ourselves. I’ve often said before, any time we live in a way contrary to the way God made us, we have trouble. God made us to be in fellowship with Him. He made us to be humble and to love others. He made us to put the needs of others above our own needs. When we fail to do this, we have problems.
My friend if you are concerning yourself with rivalries or doing things because of your pride, I beg of you to stop. Don’t even go there. That is dangerous territory. Turn to God, trust in Him. He wants us to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him (Micah 6:8).
Have a great weekend!