Fulfilling His Joy

Philippians 2:1-11
"If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

This is a beautiful passage of scripture that shows us how we really ought to behave within the body of Christ. Paul is telling the church at Philippi, and us, that we are to serve God with the right attitude and for the right reasons. In short, we are to be humble about it. Looking closely at what he is saying we can see that we first must be "likeminded". Paul is pleading with them to be in agreement. Or at least to be understanding of each other. Like-mindedness is to be in agreement. But he goes on urging us to have the same love. In this we cannot debate what love that must be. For a Christian there is only one love. And that is the love of Christ. If we do not share the love of Christ we are doomed from the start. Remember that John, "the disciple whom Jesus loved," reminds us in 1 John 4:8 that "…God is love." And he also pointed out in 1 John 4:20 that if we say we love God but hate our brothers or sisters in Christ, then we are liars. So back to what Paul is saying in out text here, We are to love one another and be of one accord. This means we are working together for a common goal. What is that goal? To be like Christ, obedient to God, doing all things for His honor and glory. He says that we are not just to look after our own concerns but after the concerns of our brethren, and our church, as much as our own. When we humble ourselves and put others first, that is when we are truly being Christ-like. We see that Christ Himself came to earth in the form of a man of flesh and blood, and became a servant. He obeyed the Father all the way to the Cross. And in between he put His disciples and His Father before Himself. Remember when He washed their feet? (John 13) He humbled Himself because of His love for His disciples and His love for His Father. Again, Paul reminds us that when we are humble, and put others first, God sees this act of obedience, and He blesses us. Now we will back up to the third verse to see some of the meat in this passage. Paul says not to do anything through "strife or vainglory". This is the key that I really wanted to share here. We are not to do anything from as desire to prove ourselves better than someone else. This is self-righteousness. And we are not to do anything to debunk or belittle someone else. This is strife. And it leads to divisions among our brethren. This is bad. And unfortunately it is something we see far too much of. We are also reminded that whatever work we do is for the honor and glory of God the Father and Christ His Son. We are not to be working for our own praise or to magnify ourselves. This is vainglory. Remember Christ said if we do these things for the honor and praise of men then we have our reward. (Matthew 6:2-16) We must humble ourselves and do all that we do for the honor and glory of Christ. It is Him that the world needs to see, not us. It is Him who can save, not us. It is Him who deserves the praise, not us. Paul told his readers that by doing this they would fulfill his joy. And we would do well if we would realize that in following the teaching in this passage of Scripture, we will be giving the same joy to Christ our Savior.
And just a short reminder; None of this is for our salvation. We are saved by grace through faith, (Ephesians 2:8-9) and sealed by the Spirit. (Ephesians 1:13 and 4:30)
I hope this will bless and inspire you.
Peace and blessings to you all.
Shannon