Introduction

Ask congregation how they feel about their relationship with God.

Do you enjoy having God in your life? Anything good about knowing the Holy Spirit is with you? etc..

This is exactly how the apostle Paul starts begins the second part of his letter to the Philippians.

read Philippians 2:1-2.

• If you enjoy the fellowship you have with God, then show it by living like Christ...having the same love...being of the same Spirit and purpose.
• Show your love and gratitude to God by developing Godly character
• Over the next 5 weeks we will be taking a look at some of the things we can work on to develop that character and show gratitude to God

Humility

v. 3-4: see others as greater than yourselves.

Evolutionary View of the World

Evolutionary biology says we should be looking out for number 1

• species in existence today are here because they outcompeted other species
• survival of the fittest, natural selection
• We as humans have outcompeted & conquered all other species
• In order for the best, most evolved humans to survive and become the next stage of evolution, they need to to whatever it takes to outperform, outsurvive every other human.

In fact we do see this type of behavior a lot in our culture-business, athletics, etc.

If we are honest, I think we can see the tendency in ourselves, too

• Don't like to admit weakness. Don't like to admit when we can't do things. Sometimes tend to focus on what's best for us instead of considering others.
• We live as though we are perfect in every way
• "Oh Lord, it's hard to be humble...clip

There is this tendency toward pride & selfishness we need to work against and ask for God's help with.

I don't think the evolutionists are right, though, about we have this tendency & why humility takes such effort.

Motivations for selfishness

Selfish Abmition

This takes us back to Paul's words. Take a look at verse 3 again.

• Do nothing out of selfish ambition.
• Another translation says it, "Don't do anything only to get ahead."

There is a kind of selfishness that is motivated by an improper understanding of humility.

Some of us feel that if we don't put ourselves first and seek recognition from others, we are going to miss out or be seen as a failure. Our lives will have no significance. We feel as if we are a lowly worm...and we need to fight just to get to the same level as everyone else.

When Paul says to consider others as better than youselves, some people already think everyone is better than them at everything and they need to work hard to correct that.

• That is not a proper understanding of humility and it can cause people to live a life focussed on themselves, on getting ahead and proving themselves-just to avoid getting lost in the crowd.

Godly humility, however, is based upon proper perspective of who you are to God.

• Need to be confident in the fact that God values you and will take care of you in every situation.
• Need to know that He loves you as you are, no matter what you've done in the past.
• Need to know that through Christ He has gifted you, guided you, empowered you and called you for a great purpose on this earth.

Don't need to fight for your place in God's family or prove yourself to Him. He already considers you to be a wonderful gift in this world.

• we often talk about what a gift from God babies are...you remain a gift to your family, to the world your entire life!

Godly humility is built upon this proper understanding of who you are in God's eyes.

Vain Conceit

Paul goes on in verse 3 to say don't do anything out of vain conceit and addresses another motivation that keeps people from practicing Godly humility.

Some people have an attitude that says, "I actually am better than everyone else."

• It is easy to see weakness and shortcomings in other people.
• Sometimes we fail to understand that other people see things differently than we do. Every person on this planet has had different experiences, thinks differently and often has a different perspective on a situation.
• Conceit...or pride says, "My perspective is the correct one."
• Pride thinks there is something wrong with other people because they don't think and act the way you do.

When we experience these kinds of feeling or attitudes, we need to realize that we are, in effect, saying we are right about everything....we are perfect.

As you read on in Philippians 2, you realize that Paul addresses this attitude more.

Look at verses 5-11

• There is no such thing as a perfect person.
• There is no such thing as a person who has it all together and can excel in every way.
• There is no such thing as a person who has all the right answers and never messes up.
• Every one of us has weaknesses and shortcomings.

Even Jesus, who is equal with God, knew this. As a human even Jesus did not consider equality with God as something we could possibly obtain...and neither should we.

If we fail to realize this, we fail to see the strength and beauty God has built into the people around us.

Godly humility admits to imperfection. If we struggle with humility in this way we need to keep reminding ourselves that God intended us to have weaknesses that are complemented by the strengths of others.

We need to remind ourselves constantly to look for the good things in others.

• Of course they have weaknesses-we all do.
• Of course they make mistakes-we all do.

But God wants us to seek out and emphasize their strengths.

• We all need the encouragment of others to bring out our strengths.

Conclusion

This brings us back to Paul's statment in verse 3. "In humility consider others better than yourselves."

Make no mistake, you are important and valuable to God, but look for the strenghts in others. Look for the things they are more skilled at than you are. God intends for you to work together with them.

We are meant to be like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

• We are not supposed to be overlapping and stacked on top of one another because we are all trying to compete for the same position.
• We are meant to be interlocking...connected...complementary.

That is what Godly humility accomplishes.

• Isn't it amazing what happens when you put a puzzle together? Individual pieces might have interesting shapes, but the image on them isn't very clear. When all the pieces come together you finally see the complete picture and you can sit back and enjoy it.
• Our lives are like that...indivudal pieces don't show the whole picture. but when we come together in humility. When we build one another up and seek out the greatness in each other...the pieces of our lives come together and reaveal an amazing portrait of God and His character.

The picture of our lives working together reflects the power and glory of God in a dark world that doesn't know Him.

So excercise and build Godly humility into your lives. Show Jesus just how much you love the fact that He gave His life for you by finding the ways the people around you complement you and allow you to accomplish things you couldn't do on your own.