Philippians 2:3 - Relating To Others

Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”

One of the important aspects of a believers life is not how much he or she reads the Bible, or how long they are able to pray, or even if they are volunteers for everything through their local church, but rather how they treat people and how their personality is perceived by others.  This is really important!  Far too many of us believers end up looking an awful lot like the pharisees when we take stock of ourselves and our attitudes.

One of my co-workers recently approached one of my fellow believers at work to talk about something. He did not select this co-worker because of how involved in Church, or how awesome his oratory skills were. No, he selected that co-worker because the coworker was open, receptive, and non-judgmental. The coworker was quiet and at ease with everyone around him.  My questioning co-worker needed to talk to someone about something and he needed someone who was not going to belittle him, bash him, ridicule him, or demand much from him.  Instead he needed someone who could listen to him, sympathize with him, and accept him for who and where he was rather than having to meet some sort of ideal.

The problem of course is that many of us who are believers seem to have all the same flaws as non-believers. We have our issues with self-interest and ambition, vain conceits, pride, self-aggrandizement, and many, many other issues. We even pride ourselves and are conceited in how humble we think we are!  How we relate and work with others, however, shows them a far different story than it shows us. Our preconceptions tend to get in the way of reality just as much as a non-believers.  I know that I am not the most approachable of guys. I am quite dogmatic when it comes to issues, and that is a good thing, but I need to learn to be more open and welcoming for people to ask questions of outside of desiring a debate.  I know that I would have been the wrong person to answer my co-workers questions just because I know myself and have had to come to grips with my preconceived notions about myself, and I'm still finding out more and more about me that I never knew.

When people come asking things of believers, its important that they feel that they are not being treated all “holier than thou” and that the believer they speak with is more interested in them than in showing off their personal amazingness at being such a perfect Christian.  Far too often we approach our relationships with others in a very demanding way, not in a Christ-like way but more of a Sanhedrin or Pharisaical way.

This week then, lets re-evaluate ourselves. Lets find what we need to work on so that we don't drive people away from us and our testimony, but instead be all the more Christ-like. We need to work on accepting people where they are, not where we think they should be. Its so very difficult and it runs counter to human nature, but to be more like Christ we must do it and pray for His aid in changing ourselves.

Father, make us loving, gentle, thoughtful, kind;
Fill us with Thy Spirit, make us of Thy mind.
Help us love each other, more and more each day,
Help us follow Jesus, in the narrow way.
                                               Flora Kirkland, 1901.