Thursday - A Humility Revolution

Philippians 2:3–4 - Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

You could pull a whole how-to list out of these two verses. But underneath every item on that list is one word: humility.

Paul calls it "lowliness of mind." Humility is the overarching key to unity.

A word nobody wanted.

Here's what's fascinating. The word Paul uses for humility was almost unheard of before the New Testament. When the Greeks did use words like it, it was an insult. It meant weak, low, servile. To the Greek mind, humility sounded like humiliation. Nobody wanted it.

But Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, took a word the world looked down on and made it the way Christians are to live. Humility is thinking of ourselves less and thinking of others more.

That was Paul's remedy for the leak in Philippi. And from what we can tell, it worked. The Philippians got right and patched up the leak.

It changed the world.

It didn't stop in Philippi. Within decades of Paul's letter, Christians were holding up humility as a central mark of the Christian life – a virtue the Greco-Roman world had never prized. Some have called it a "humility revolution." Believers lived in unity by practicing humility, and it changed the culture around them.

We forgot our own word.

Fast forward to today. We don't often see Christians changing the culture. We don't often see Christians living selflessly. Too often we see churches divided and closing their doors over petty disagreements and preferences.

Why? Because we have forgotten the very word the early church gave the world – humility. And because of that, our churches suffer, our homes suffer, and our lives suffer.

Look on the things of others.

Humility walks into church asking, "Who can I serve?" instead of "Was I served?" It lets someone else's need matter more than my preference. It esteems the other person better than myself – even the one who parks in "my" spot.

…God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. – I Peter 5:5

We need a humility revolution again. Thinking of ourselves less, thinking of others more, and setting aside our preferences and differences to work together for the gospel.

Where can you look on the things of others today?