Philippians 2:3-4
“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”
In the last two verses Paul spoke of unity and oneness. He continues that now by stating a very important principle and warns against the trait of being selfish. Notice the positive statement is sandwiched between two negatives. First he warns against selfishness or conceit. Selfishness means not being willing to share. God wants us to hold everything with an open hand. He wants us to be willing to help others in need. Need can be more than financial; it can be emotional or it can be physical. I can tell you from experience, it is more blessed to give than to receive. There is a great joy that comes from seeing needs met.
There are three cautions in these verses. First be careful about selfishness and then guard against conceit. Conceit reveals pride, snobbery or arrogance. Notice that trait is described as being “empty”. God highly values the attitude of humility. Remember the statement that Christ humbled himself to become a man. Conceit is very common in our world. We want to look or dress better than others; own more expensive things; live in better houses, etc. Selfishness and conceit prevents us from being generous.
The third caution Paul gives us is that we should “not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interest of others”. That is very similar to being selfish, but I think extends the thought. We should be careful to take note of what is best for others. We should be willing to sacrifice our desires for the best interest of others if the Holy Spirit leads us. That attitude may cause us not to do something we otherwise have the freedom to do because we know a friend doesn’t have that freedom. It may cause us to pay a utility bill for someone rather than spend money on something we want. You probably can think of many other examples.
It is in your best interest to be alert for the interest of others. You will receive much more satisfaction from that than from selfishness or conceit.
In the last two verses Paul spoke of unity and oneness. He continues that now by stating a very important principle and warns against the trait of being selfish. Notice the positive statement is sandwiched between two negatives. First he warns against selfishness or conceit. Selfishness means not being willing to share. God wants us to hold everything with an open hand. He wants us to be willing to help others in need. Need can be more than financial; it can be emotional or it can be physical. I can tell you from experience, it is more blessed to give than to receive. There is a great joy that comes from seeing needs met.
There are three cautions in these verses. First be careful about selfishness and then guard against conceit. Conceit reveals pride, snobbery or arrogance. Notice that trait is described as being “empty”. God highly values the attitude of humility. Remember the statement that Christ humbled himself to become a man. Conceit is very common in our world. We want to look or dress better than others; own more expensive things; live in better houses, etc. Selfishness and conceit prevents us from being generous.
The third caution Paul gives us is that we should “not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interest of others”. That is very similar to being selfish, but I think extends the thought. We should be careful to take note of what is best for others. We should be willing to sacrifice our desires for the best interest of others if the Holy Spirit leads us. That attitude may cause us not to do something we otherwise have the freedom to do because we know a friend doesn’t have that freedom. It may cause us to pay a utility bill for someone rather than spend money on something we want. You probably can think of many other examples.
It is in your best interest to be alert for the interest of others. You will receive much more satisfaction from that than from selfishness or conceit.
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