“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.” ` Philippians 2:3
Paul is addressing one of Satan’s strategies to disrupt the work of God’s church – disunity. He uses this strategy to hinder the empowering of the Holy Spirit band to allow the world to mock the church as no better than they are. As a result the Holy Spirit leads Paul to provide practical application on how to achieve unity. To
do that, he gives a negative and a positive.
Let nothing Paul starts with an absolute negative. What he is about to write applies to every situation we face. Thus we are not to allow any scenario to cause us to violate the Holy Spirit’s command. Remember Paul is writing from a prison cell. If anyone had reason to have an exception, it would be Paul yet these two principles apply to him as well.
Be done through selfish ambition or conceit We can serve the Lord but do it in a spirit or manner that is not Christlike. Paul writes that absolutely nothing is to be done with selfish ambition. These words indicate a desire to elevate oneself (one’s own interests) over another person. It places ones needs and wants before others. The Greek word carries with it a connotation of contentiousness. Combativeness underlies the effort to make sure the person is the first priority. Second Paul writes we absolutely are never to act with conceit. This is the root cause of the selfish ambition – an elevated sense of self. This is the sin of pride which God hates. This attitude of self must be eliminated in order for Paul’s positive instruction to be enabled.
But in lowliness of mind Paul now switches to the positive attitude that is to be displayed. He describes the mental state (our heart attitude) that should underlie our actions. Lowliness of mind is humility. Humility is a much misunderstood concept. Many think humility requires we devalue ourselves – we are not as important or less valuable as someone else. This is not true for the Lord paid for our sin just as it did for others. God chose us to redeem us. Humility has nothing to do with worth of the person. Humility causes us to do as Christ did – look on the needs of others and place them ahead of our own needs. Thus we gladly look out for others needs first. How can we possibly do that? Paul gave us the foundation with the four “ifs”. We are able to look to others’ needs when we see ourselves as one body (unity) with Christ, when we are comforted with God’s love, when we have the same Spirit, and when we practice compassion for others like God does for us.
Let each Paul told us what not to allow, now he tells us what to allow the Spirit of God to do through us. The word each in universal. It applies to all believers in every age. There are no exceptions.
Esteem others Esteeming is valuing. Unity starts in the mind, in the way we think and then shows itself in our actions. Valuing others above ourselves does not mean we ignore our own needs, but rather we prioritize other’s needs over our needs. It means we
are willing to listen, encourage, and help others, even when it is inconvenient.
Better than himself Here is a believer’s priority. Our needs are number 3, behind Christ and everyone else’s.
What can we learn? Some may say if I do that, I I’ll lose out. I will lack what I need. If every believer esteems every other believer, we will have our needs met in God’s timing instead of by demanding our rights. Thus unity in the church leads to a body in which every believer cares for the needs of all others. Then we all trust God to meet our needs in His way and His timing. Because we know this is the mind of Christ, we have no fear in waiting on God and trusting Him to act.