August 24, 2016: Day 87 – Philippians 2

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.  What a powerful statement.  We are to have the mind of Christ.  The mind of Christ would then give us the desires of Christ.  The desires of Christ would then give us the life of Christ.  That should be our goal.  But look at what follows the statement that we are to have the mind of Christ.  There is a lesson on humility that follows.

I would love all of you to look up the word kenosis.  When you do look it up you will see that it means literally a “self-emptying”.  Jesus empties himself for our sake.  The verses 6-11 are considered a hymn that was written to celebrate who Jesus is.  It is one of the earliest love songs to our Savior.  It describes his willingness to become humble, to become one of us.  That is the measure of his love for us.  The irony in these verses, and in the end we find also the irony of life, is that those who lower themselves, those who humble themselves will eventually be lifted up.  As Jesus says elsewhere, okay Matthew 20:16, So the last will be first and the first will be last.  Those who want to become great, must become like a child.  All of these are Jesus’ words and are wonderful words to live by.