June 11
Having the Mind of Christ
Philippians 2:1-13

Key Verse: Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:5

When Paul tells us we should have the mind of Christ, he is inviting us to embrace humility. This is the context in which we find the key verse of this lesson. Paul paints us an unforgettable picture of our Lord humbling accepting suffering in order to remain faithful to the mission the Father had given him.

It is easy to overlook this basic idea, for we are not easily disposed to humility. We prefer to think of the attitude of Christ in other ways. Asked to describe the attitude of Jesus, most of us would picture him as positive, courageous, focused on the will of his Father, and like Superman, able to do miraculous things. But the first word out of our mouths would probably not be "humble."

The truth is, most of us would rather joke about humility than to practice it. We can get a good laugh by telling others about our new book titled, "Humility and How I Achieved It." Our human nature pushes us to insist on our own way rather than humbly believing that God can use our humiliation for his glory. We would rather pray for the defeat of our enemies so that we could prevail and obtain some glory for ourselves.

But God's ways are not our ways. If we are going to serve on God's team, then we will remember the example of our Lord and pray for grace to "do as he did" in our opportunities to serve Him by suffering. It will help us to humble ourselves if we remember that finally, our side wins and our example is none other than the Suffering Servant of God!