Dear Friends,
We hope this week's devotional will encourage you in your spiritual walk.
You are welcome to share this and include in your church newsletters if you wish; we just ask that you please give credit to NTC and the author. Thank you!
Philippians 2:1-13 (ESV)
1So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, a 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped 7but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men. 8And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Devotional Thought
Within our society there are many things that are designed to divide us and split us into factions. One only has to look at the stereotypical high school/college groups to see evidence of this. Even as Christians, we are not exempt from this. Our differences in doctrine, differences in ideologies, differences in our approaches to hermeneutics, and our interpretation of biblical texts often cause us to draw that line of division. For example, there is the Arminian vs Calvinist debate, predestination & election vs free will, 7-day creationists vs Christian evolutionists, etc. We seem to debate on things that are widely enjoyable but in the end are missing the point to a degree. Paul calls us in Philippians to be like-minded, of one mind, united. How are we united? Paul says in verse 6 that Christ emptied himself, took on the form of a servant, humbled himself, and it led Him to the cross.
We sang, “lead me to the cross” in Chapel a few weeks ago. In everything we do, everything we say, in our doctrines, ideologies, and beliefs, unless they point back to the cross of Christ, point back to Jesus Christ, then all that remains is intellectual jargon that will continue to bring division.
What unites us is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the proclamation of the gospel. We have all been called to live a cruciform life, continuously being sanctified. Perhaps our differences only help us in that process. For it is at the cross, we experience forgiveness so that we are to forgive those who deeply wound us. It is at the cross we are convicted of our sin, so that we may be sanctified and continue to develop the character of Jesus. It is at the cross we are reminded of the greatest demonstration of love the world has ever known, so that we are able to radically love others. This is what unites us and continues to do so. Even as I, a Lutheran, am writing this devotional for a Nazarene college, there is a display of unity within the body of Christ. We are all called to humble ourselves before the foot of the cross and before one another and try to learn to listen to the other side, that we may disagree with. If Christ is our example of this humility, then we are to empty ourselves of our pride. For in the end, it is love that ultimately unites us—love for God and love for one another. Let us never forget that.
Prayer
Lord, we confess we have sinned in word, thought and deed and have not loved You and others as You have called us to. We have often allowed our interpretations and own understandings to divide us. Lord, let us be reminded by your love and be the proof of that love to others around us. Let us humble ourselves at the foot of the cross, empty ourselves of our pride, and come before You in complete surrender so that we are able to live a cruciform life, to be of one mind and follow after your example. In Jesus name. Amen
Julie McKenzie
NTC Office Manager/ Theological Bachelor Student of NTC
Nazarene Theological College