Sacrifice 101
Philippians 2:3-5 In whatever you do, don’t let selfishness or pride be your guide. Be humble, and honour others more than yourselves. Don’t be interested only in your own life, but care about the lives of others too. In your life together, think the way Christ Jesus thought.
There’s a tectonic shift going on in people’s mindsets – one that’s been evident for quite some time. It’s the global shift from a collective, mutually responsible world view to an individualistic one.
In the west, economies have become more developed over the last century – people’s disposable incomes have risen, the supercomputers in the palms of our hands have become the centre of our world, individualism has torn apart our social fabric and made us more self-entitled than ever. It’s has been obvious for a long time.
And so-called developing nations are catching up fast as this westernisation, this individualisation, this sense of entitlement takes over those societies as well.
But deep-rooted selfishness – which lies at the core of individualism, at the heart of self-entitlement – has been with us since time immemorial. That’s why the call of Jesus to live a life of sacrifice has always been, and will always be, counter-cultural. That’s why the call of Jesus to follow Him into a life of sacrifice is so abhorrent to so many.
Philippians 2:3-5 In whatever you do, don’t let selfishness or pride be your guide. Be humble, and honour others more than yourselves. Don’t be interested only in your own life, but care about the lives of others too. In your life together, think the way Christ Jesus thought.
And as we know, even though He was the Son of God, He gave up everything to become one of us, to die, to be crucified … for us.
Yes, we’re immersed in a world dominated by an increasingly rampant sense of self-entitlement. But the life of a Christ-follower, make no mistake, is the exact opposite of that.
In your life together, think the way Christ Jesus thought.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.