The Mind of Christ
There are some passages of Scripture that seem to meet us right where we are, and Philippians 2 is one of them.
Paul is writing to a church made up of real people, with real personalities, real differences, and the ordinary struggles that come with living in community. His answer is simple, though hardly easy: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”
Paul is not asking everyone to think alike. He is asking them to love alike.
To choose humility over ego. Compassion over competition. Service over status. To look beyond our own concerns long enough to notice the person beside us.
Then Paul points to Jesus, who did not cling to power or privilege, but emptied himself in love. He served. He humbled himself. He gave himself away.
That may be one of the most beautiful things this passage teaches us about God: God’s power looks like love poured out.
For us, that can be wonderfully ordinary. It looks like checking on someone who is lonely. Making the phone call. Bringing the meal. Offering patience when it would be easier to be irritated. Making room for another person’s voice. Choosing kindness when no one will ever know we did.
And then Paul reminds us that we do not have to manufacture this kind of life by sheer willpower. “God is at work in you,” he says.
I love that.
God is already at work in us and among us, shaping us little by little into a people who look more like Christ.
Perhaps that is prayer enough for this week:
Lord, give us the mind of Christ. Help us notice one another, love generously, hold our pride a little more loosely, and trust that you are already at work among us.
And then help us get out of the way of that grace.
In Christ,
Mo. Allison+
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