You are better than me - no really!

A big thank you to all of you who have been checking these out!  It makes me excited to see that you are viewing them and I pray that God uses them to help you draw closer to him.

Today will be the last day that we build off the "Monkey see, monkey do" lesson that I gave on Monday.  I am excited and have already been preparing for this Monday night's lesson.

We have looked at several different areas of our Christian walk over the past few days.  There are uncountable others that I could have chosen, but these have been the main ones on my mind!  Just today I started responding in a conversation in a negative way and was reminded to not let any unwholesome talk come out of my mouth.  What a blessing not to go down that same old road again!!!  I pray that the Holy Spirit has been working in your lives as well.

The last passage that we covered on Monday night was from the book of Philippians, chapter 2.  We will look at three different aspects of this passage.

First, verse 1.  If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 

This is an interesting statement that Paul is making.  It is pretty much a rhetorical question!  Of course we have had encouragement from being united with Christ, etc.  When we accept Christ's free gift of salvation, we are united with Him!  We are enveloped by His love.  Paul's real reason for putting this verse in there was for verse 2.

 then make my joy complete by being like‑minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.


Here is where we get back into the monkey see, monkey do analogy.  As we follow Christ, and His plan for our lives (some of which we talked about in the first three recaps), we will be like minded - because we are following His commands!  We will have the same love because we are serving the same God, the God who IS Love!  And we will also have a common purpose and goals, because they are God's purposes - not our own.


But how do we do this?  How do people of different denominations, different races, and different social status' have a common purpose and become like minded?  Glad you asked!  Verses 3-8 tell us:


 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 

6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 

7 but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness. 

8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death– 

even death on a cross!   




Jesus was the ONE person of all time that would have deserved to say, "I'm better than you".  He could have said that because HE WOULD HAVE BEEN CORRECT!!!  Who are we to say that we are better than anyone else?  We may not struggle with the same exact sin or areas of weakness, but we are all lost and hopeless without Christ!  


So in a way, I've saved the "best for last".  Although this one for me is not so much the best, but the hardest.  Probably because it goes directly against the "American Way".  You mean that I shouldn't stomp on that person to get where I need to go?  I shouldn't cheat to get ahead?  Etc, etc.


When you really get to the bottom of this passage it boils down to this: Jesus was/is/forever will be God, He didn't need to save us, we were hopelessly lost in our own sin, He humbled Himself, was crucified by HIS OWN CREATION, and paid MY debt for ME!!!  That is either the single dumbest thing that has ever been done in all eternity, or the absolute greatest show of love, mercy, and humility.  


We can't say - ever - that someone is "below" us.  Or that they don't deserve our time.  Praise God that Christ didn't say that about me, or about you!!!  Praise God that Jesus was obedient to the Father's will and suffered, bled, died, and rose again so that we might have life - eternal life!!!  

Monkey see, Monkey do.  It's more than a catch phrase, or a cute sermon title - it's what God desires us to do.  As we copy Him and His ways, we will be like minded, we will build others up, and most importantly - we will bring glory to God!