Not Something to be Grasped

Can I share a little of what I'm learning with you today.  Warning, the following will contain biblical references.....

I've studied Phillipians a number of times.  It is one of my favorite books of Scripture.  But recently, God has been speaking to me about growing out of selfishness and into self LESSness.  Philippians 2 is a wonderful portion of scripture for that lesson so it's something I've been meditating on lately.

This morning, I read again the portion where it says:

Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself.  Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well. You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature.

This is from Philippians 2:3-7.  The passage goes to explain more of the way in which Christ behaved while on earth.  But the thing I noticed today is something which I've never understood before.  Here, Paul is comparing selfish ambition, or selfishness with a desire to be equal with God. 

This realization floored me!  When I want what I want and I expect to actually get it and I get angry when I don't, all of that is due to the fact that I consider myself to be equal with God.  The rest of the world needs to just stop and bow at my feet and fulfill my desires!

Yikes, what a terrible way for me and you to think.  But if you're like me, you do this over and over on a daily basis.  Perhaps it is the very foundation of sin nature in us.

I feel like this was a big insight, but I have to say that doing something about it seems quite daunting.  When I consider ALL the ways in which I daily express my selfishness, I am hard pressed to imagine how I will change it with any effectiveness.  I suppose that is where I must rest in the Spirit of God to do the work in me.  Thanks be to God!

The truth is that I can't, in myself, be like Christ.  But Christ in me can transform me daily through the renewing of my mind. I will trust in Him.