Philippians 2

This devotional is written by Kat Karamani-Taylor.

Imitating Christ’s humility
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death –
even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Do everything without grumbling
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose.

14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labour in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

Timothy and Epaphroditus
19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. 20 I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. 21 For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. 23 I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. 24 And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.

25 But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. 26 For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. 27 Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. 29 So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honour people like him, 30 because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.

When I was reading this passage, the first thing that stood out to me was when Paul was talking about Jesus who “made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant”. This, for me, was a stark reminder of the huge sacrifice that Jesus made. Not only did he die on the cross, but also throughout his time on earth he acted servant-like. I know that sometimes I can feel tired and exhausted and the last thing that I want to do is be servant-hearted but this is something that God has called us to do and so is something I will strive to be better at, even when I am feeling tired.
 
The second thing that stuck out to me was how God asks us to do everything without grumbling. I know that there can be times, particularly when working, that I am prone to grumble. However difficult it might be, trying to curb your grumbling in front of others as this can sometimes help you to change your mindset so that even when you are alone, the grumbling seems unimportant compared to the good things that are happening every day.
 
By doing these things, God tells us that we will “shine […] like stars in the sky”. This is God’s ultimate goal for us - to shine with his light and bring light to the darkness.
 
Lord, I pray that we can call out to you when we need to grumble and remind ourselves of the way Jesus acted when he was here on earth. I pray that all of us can become more Jesus-like and develop servitude without the grumbling. I pray that as our relationship with you continues to grow, we would shine brighter and brighter in the sky and bring your glorious light to the darkness of this world.