2 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? ² Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

³ Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. ⁴ Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

⁵ You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

⁶ Though he was God,
    he did not think of equality with God
    as something to cling to.
⁷ Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
    he took the humble position of a slave
    and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
⁸     he humbled himself in obedience to God
    and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

⁹ Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
    and gave him the name above all other names,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:1-11

Dear God, Paul was using Jesus as the ultimate example of humility, but the point of this passage is for us to be humble. Humble with others. Humble with you. Loving. Serving. Sacrificing. Yielding. Comforting. Caring. Fellowshipping. And yes, Jesus was all of these things. He was the ultimate at all of these things. So where am I on the scale of zero to Jesus?

I can look at each of these characteristics and see how I am lacking in each one. I’m humble to some extent, but not very humble. I am loving to some extent, but there’s a lot of room for growth there. I could go all of the way through this. An honest assessment of myself tells me I have all of these characteristics to some extent, but I am probably an mile wide and an inch deep. Maybe two inches deep. I guess one of the things times like this with you does is it helps me to dredge out my mile-wide pool so that you can make me just a little deeper.

Father, help me to see myself through your eyes today. Open my eyes to my arrogance and sense of self preservation. Help me to see when I pull my love from others. Help me to see when selfishness is taking over and I am failing to serve or sacrifice. Help me to recognize my stubbornness and I am refusing to yield. Help me to recognize my lethargy in comforting and caring for others. Help me to not avoid relationship with others, but to reach out to them in fellowship. Give me a little more Jesus today. Holy Spirit, teach me.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen