Reading Plan:
Philippians 2
Our Thoughts:
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Paul is simultaneously one of the most prolific and one of the wackiest writers of the New Testament. I mean, think about it. Don’t you love how Paul starts Philippians 2 by breaking out into one of the most powerful doctrinal understandings of the Person and Work of Christ (vs. 5-11), and then simply moves on to his to-do list as it relates to the Philippians? He’s theologizing with friends and making travel plans.
It would be like me writing this devotional and saying, “So, here are some of the greatest mysteries of the universe explained… Anyway, I think I’ll eat at Olive Garden tonight.”
Paul cracks me up.
But don’t miss this. Not only is Paul’s life a living crucible of the gospel he is preaching, but he has a protégé in whom the gospel is also flourishing: Timothy.
Take note of Paul’s metric for what gospel-flourishing looks like:
“I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare (vs.20).”
To Paul, a life that is flourishing in the gospel shows genuine concern for the welfare of others.
It’s got me asking myself, “Do I show genuine concern for the welfare of other people? Or am I primarily concerned about my own welfare?” Honestly, I don’t think I land in either of those places. I am somewhere in the mushy middle. The next verse is especially convicting to me:
“For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ (vs.21).”
There it is. There’s the connection. The interest of Jesus Christ is served by showing genuine concern for the welfare of others - not by looking out for my own interests.
I’ll be honest with you Venture Fam, I am living in a season of time right now where everything about my life is hard. My own interests feel overwhelming a lot of the time. In fact, I am living in a season where I don’t have the bandwidth for too much genuine concern for the welfare of others.
In other words, it’s not in my self-interest to show genuine concern for the welfare of others. Ouch, that’s hard to say.
It’s not that I don’t care. It’s that I don’t have the capacity. But I believe the Lord allows times like these in our lives to grow us beyond our self-interest and to build into us new Spirit–inspired capacities. I believe times like these, which I know many of you are also facing, are those times when the Holy Spirit whispers, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Whenever we are honest with ourselves about our limitations and our weaknesses, it is then that God begins to open up a new layer of grace in our lives. I feel it in my own life. Once I took off the mask and said, “Okay, God, I’m too absorbed in my own self-interests to look into the welfare of others,” God immediately began to fill in the crevices of my heart with his mercy. Miraculously, His mercy overflows - not just into my own circumstances, but into the lives of others, as well. It’s only through Jesus that we can see outside of ourselves, friends.
That doesn’t make it any easier, just a lot more hopeful. I’m beginning to see my own role in the Kingdom a lot more simply. It goes like this: look out for the interests of Jesus Christ by showing genuine concern for the welfare of others. Period.
There is a word that captures this whole thing: LOVE.
More Questions:
• Can you remember a time in your life when everything was hard? Is that time right now? What are you learning in this season of difficulty?
• Why do most people look out for their own interests instead of the interests of others?
• What does it look like in your life to show genuine concern for the welfare of others?
Prayer:
Father, we thank You for your Son, Jesus, who has shown us what genuine concern for the welfare of others looks like. It’s amazing. We don’t have this capacity in our own strength. But your strength is found in our weakness. Grow our capacity to show love for others, even when we feel burdened with our own issues. In Jesus’ name, we pray, amen.
Author: Blake Houston