Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 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! Philippians 2:1-8, NIV

Recently, I was speaking with someone who said he wouldn’t be kind to someone who doesn’t deserve it. He went on to explain that, for him, showing kindness to someone requires them to prove they are worthy of it. 

This is the opposite of what Jesus did for us!

The foundation of everything laid out in today’s passage is linked to our connection with Christ. Paul is imploring his audience to give him joy by responding to others the way Christ engages with us. Jesus is our ultimate example of being other-focused. He is God, but put aside many of His divine attributes as He took on a human body. He voluntarily lowered His rank and dignity. He was still fully God, but He did not hold tightly to His authority, majesty, regality, and attributes of His deity. His shameful death was all because He loves us. He displayed humility instead of pride. He was focused on our redemption and not our guilt. 

So our kindness, compassion, grace, and mercy should not be conditional either. Many who are not Christians will go out of their way to show kindness and compassion, but often withdraw these responses if they feel they are not reciprocated somehow. The truth is that we, as believers, have that tendency too. We show kindness and favor to others because we expect something in return. These expectations are often unstated and even subconscious, at times. 

Our pursuit in life must be to experience God’s love, and then to reflect His love back to Him, and to our fellow human beings. I believe that Jesus wants us to consistently have the same mindset that He has. In our homes, workplaces, churches, neighborhoods, and other contexts, people get on our nerves—even if the person is a stranger we will never see again, we must respond with humility wrapped in love.

We were estranged from God because of sin. Even so, He drew close to us by taking on a human body to serve us and to eventually die for us. His servanthood and death demonstrated His strength in withstanding evil. He has given us His Spirit—His strength so that we too can resist selfish ambition, conceitedness, vanity, and self-centered attitudes. God put Himself in our shoes (the human body) so that He could empathize with us. We, too, must resist responding in haste and think about the other person by putting ourselves in their shoes. 

We don’t love from our head knowledge; we can only truly love and be other-centered when we have experienced the depth, width, and height of God’s unconditional love. We cannot emulate Jesus’ humility wrapped in love through our own efforts. His Spirit is the one who strengthens us to receive this type of love and, in turn, emulate it. 

In this season of your life, in what ways is Jesus calling you to emulate Him?

Lord, thank You for Your sacrificial love. Because of Your sacrificial love, I have been reconciled to You. Help me to understand the depth of Your love more and more. Strengthen me to emulate You in the way I love people. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Copyright Althea Gordon-Scott.

Althea’s passion is to validate, encourage, empower, and inspire people, especially young people, to find their identity, live out their purpose, and reach their full potential. She holds a Ph.D. in organizational leadership and is a Christian Educators member, a public school educator, an ordained minister, a wife, and a mother.