1 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
Message: Fulfilled Joy - Unity and Humility
Time: AD 62. One of the 4 prison epistles.
What the Lord is Saying: This was the sermon yesterday (1/19/2025) at Hoffmantown Church by Lamar Morin. Great message and text. The idea of this text is one of my favorite ideas (do nothing from selfishness) and yet one I know that is hard to practice. As I have been doing I started by looking at each verse and doing a one line summary of the text.
1 - Encouragement (in Christ), Consolation (of love), (spirit of) Fellowship, Affection, Compassion
2 - Make my joy complete - same mind, same love, united, one purpose
3 - Nothing selfish - regard one another more important
4 - Look out for interests of others
Be of the same mind - Make others more important
Disclaimer: We are not to think poorly of ourselves. This text is not saying that we are to think that we are to hate ourselves. We need confidence in who we are.
This passage stems from Philippians 1:27, "conduct yourselves worthy of the gospel of Christ." In verse 1, we are encouraged why? Because we are in Christ. These are the words to the church in Philippi. It starts with the Gospel. This is what it is to be a Christian - to be one in Christ.
Then there is my response - Consolation or comforting one another in love. As the body of Christ, we are to comfort one another.
And there is joy by being of the same mind. I love this idea of same mind or unity. There are things that don't matter or that we will disagree on - like politics, money, jobs, free time, color of carpet, chairs or pews, hymns or worship songs, frequency of Lord's Supper (sacrament), practice of discipleship and evangelism, Sunday school or home groups. The disagreements are many and varied. But we still must remain in unity and be of the same mind of what it means to be in Christ. We can disagree but not on Truth. We are united and intent on one purpose - to Glorify God and make Him known.
Once I am in Christ, my focus is on others. I am to be an ambassador in sharing truth. And I am to always place other people's interests above my own. I immediately think here of taking time to share the gospel with others, to invest in other people's lives rather than serving my own needs for entertainment and rest.
And I think about my relationship with my spouse, my wife Pamela. I am to love her and place her interests above mine. That is so hard to do and practice, I admit.
Summary: In Christ, we are to think of others, have unity and through this our needs will be met.
Prayer: O Father, I need your help each day to show your love to others. I desire to be a person that encourages unity. Thank you for differences. Thank you for my faith and being in Christ. Help me to make sense each day of not doing anything from selfishness or empty conceit but to be humble. Help me to not out for my own interests, but the interests of others.
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