Monday, June 28, 2010

Anti-pride

He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. He put aside his privileges of deity and became a slave. We are called to think of ourselves the same way that Christ thought of himself. He knew he was living a righteous life, but he choose to live it out through humility and grace instead of pride. **

How did he do this? With a heart of forgiveness. Christ quoted on the cross "Forgive them for they know not what they do." To truly embrace humility in this respect, we need to take a deep look at our relationships with others and forgive others in His true love.

If Christ could do this, when people wronged him beyond belief, it should be easy for us to take steps to mending important relationships in our own lives. I have not been called a criminal, I have not been beaten physically and emotionally by the people I find hardest to forgive in my life. My areas of forgiveness should be soooooo much easier to demonstrate than the spirit of pride Christ overcame; shouldn't they be? But they aren't because of pride.

If I only could embrace the heart of Christ so much that I would want to be a slave! A slave to righteousness. A slave of love, truth, and compassion for others. With that as my motivation, it is so easy for me to truly look at people from a soul perspective instead of a comparing/competitive perspective (which is soooo ugly). To come to a place of understanding people and having more patience with them. We all have shortcomings in different areas after all. Its Gods place to show us where and how to overcome them. Prayer for mankind to embrace godliness does wonders.

**taken from the message, Phil 2:6-8

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