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emptying our expectations
Philippians 2:1-11 (JDV)
Philippians 2:1 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of care, if any partnership with the Breath, if any affection and mercy,
Philippians 2:2 make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same care, united in throat,intent on one purpose.
Philippians 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.
Philippians 2:4 Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Philippians 2:5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,
Philippians 2:6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.
Philippians 2:7 Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of a human. And when he had come as a man,
Philippians 2:8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death– even to death on a cross.
Philippians 2:9 For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name,
Philippians 2:10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow– in the sky realm and on land and under the land –
Philippians 2:11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
emptying our expectations
Paul encourages the Philippian Christians to respond to Christ’s selfless attitude by adopting it themselves. As Grownups, we adore children for their cuteness, honesty and openness, and that helps us to overlook their innate selfishness. But as children mature, we expect them to learn to be less selfish and more considerate.
Christ did not empty himself of his divinity or his majesty or his righteousness. He emptied his expectation of getting what all those things deserve.
Christ’s choice to empty himself of all the things he deserved as God’s only Son is the ultimate example of the selfless attitude that accompanies Christian maturity. He was able and willing to look beyond what he deserved to do something for us that we did not deserve.
Lord, grant us the maturity that empties our expectation of what we deserve.
See Also:
https://jeffersonvann.com/2013/01/29/acst-56-the-saved/
https://hence4th.org/2019/03/12/assembly-body-bride-the-saved/
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