A Prepared Bride 11 - Loving Yourself 1: Phil. 2

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matt 22:34-40 NIV

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

"What is written in the Law?" Jesus replied. "How do you read it?"

He answered: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
Luke 10:25-27 NIV

Jesus brings to a very clear and defined focus all of the hundreds of laws (613 in the Torah) that had been handed down from God and embellished by man through the centuries. With two simple commandments, it is possible to fulfill all that is written in the law and all that the prophets spoke and foretold. If we will but love the Lord our God with all of our heart (spiritually), soul (emotionally), mind (intellectually) and strength (actively) and love our neighbor as we love ourselves, then we will break no commands. We will not sin!

There is, however, a presupposition in the second commandment – that we love ourselves. Since the birth existentialism*, we have spent huge sums of money trying to discover who we are, why we are here and coming to grips with what we have labeled as “self esteem”.

Paul made a statement about self esteem –

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem the other better than themselves. Phil 2:3 KJV

A different translation puts it this way,

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Phil 2:3-4 NIV

This flies in the face of modern thought and the “Look out for #1” mentality. Paul goes on to use Jesus as our example of humility and selflessness.


Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
- morphe - denotes "the special or characteristic form or feature" of a person or thing. An excellent definition of the word is that of Gifford: "morphe is therefore properly the nature or essence, not in the abstract, but as actually subsisting in the individual, and retained as long as the individual itself exists....**

In other words, Jesus was God and is God in every way, shape and form, being of the very essence and nature of God.

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
- Jesus was certain of who he was, so much so that the thought of giving up who He was or relinquishing His rights as God did not cause Him panic. We on the other hand fight for every bit of recognition that we believe we deserve. There are some Christian cultures in which everybody has a title – Deacon, Bishop, Evangelist, Pastor, etc.

but made himself nothing,
- kenoo "to empty,"*** Jesus willingly divested Himself of His prerogative to act as God. He was still very God of very God but he made the choice to become man as the next phrases will illustrate and by doing so gave up His right act as God. The eternal, omnipotent God became a baby, housed in flesh and limited to its frailties.

taking the very nature of a servant,
- again the Greek word morphe, indicating that just as Jesus was of the essence and nature of God, He humbled Himself and took on the very nature of a slave, limiting Himself to flesh and blood.

being made in human likeness. and being found in appearance as a man,
- Jesus was recognizable as a human being. He operated by the five senses. People could see, hear, touch, taste and smell Him. He looked like a man and acted as a man because the Divine became human. I do not pretend to understand how that happened, I simply recognize that it did!

he humbled himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross!
- Jesus allowed Himself to be brought low. He who was and is and ever shall be submitted Himself, gave Himself over to be put to death by His creation so that “also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.” Rom 5:19 NIV



As a result of emptying Himself, of humbling Himself, of laying down His life for us,

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Phil 2:5-11 NIV

Jesus gave us this parable to help us understand how we ought to relate to one another.
"When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 14:8-11 NIV

Remember! Paul began all of this with the exhortation that

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Phil 2:5 NIV

We should act the same way that Jesus did and empty ourselves of ourselves of our own rights and, becoming like Jesus, serve one another.

Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13 NIV

Paul encouraged this even further by commanding,

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Eph 5:1-2 NIV.


*Existentialism attempts to describe our desire to make rational decisions despite existing in an irrational universe. Unfortunately, life might be without inherent meaning (existential atheists) or it might be without a meaning we can understand (existential theists). Either way, the human desires for logic and immortality are futile. We are forced to define our own meanings, knowing they might be temporary. In this existence, the individual defines everything. The Existential Primer ©2005 C. S. Wyatt; 23-May-2005

**(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright (c)1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers, From Gifford, "The Incarnation," pp. 16,19,39.)

***(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright (c)1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)