Weekly Words | Philippians 2:1-11 “Unity Not Uniformity”
In Philippians chapter 2:1-11 Paul address what some church workers today don’t understand; that there is a difference between unity and uniformity. True spiritual unity comes from within; it’s a matter of the heart. Uniformity is the result of pressure from without. There can be no joy in the life of the Christian who puts himself above others. The beauty of this passage is that it asks us if we have the “mind of Christ” and this mind of Christ will make it impossible for people to rob you of your joy because people can’t steal what you have willing given away and no longer have! We don’t have to fight with someone when we have willing given our rights away! In verses 1-2 we see one of satan’s best weapons against the church “division”. Far too often the church has succumbed to this tactic of the devil by making what we differ on greater than what unites us. The real problem Paul says isn’t the person in whom you disagree; the real problem is that you don’t value them as much as you value yourself! Paul gives four reasons why the church ought to operate in unity each starts with the word IF in verse 1.
• Consolation in Christ: What Jesus has done for us should be all the incentive we need to live in peace and harmony with each other.
• Comfort of love: Since the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts comforting us we ought to have that for each other as well.
• Communion of the Spirit: We are all indwelt by the same Spirit and as such there should be nothing to divide us.
• Compassion and mercy: We ought to possess a wealth of compassion and mercy as we have received such from God.
Saints we all ought to do the two things Paul says we should do:
- Lowliness of mind: Paul doesn’t just stop there he tells us how to apply humility by “esteeming others better than our self”. When there is a division between you and someone else you we need to say to ourselves, this person is better than me and I’m going to treat them that way no matter how they treat me.
- Look out not only for your own interests but also for the interests of others: Paul’s prescription for “selfish ambition” and “conceit” is to ask yourself this question: “How much time am I giving to my own interests and agenda and how much time am I giving to the interests of others?”
Dear Christian think about this: If I consider you above me, and you consider me above you, we will have a community where everyone is looked up to, and no one is looked down on!
This has been Pastor Dale, Blessings