Philippians 2 - Looking to the Interests of Others

by Lorrie Davids⁽¹⁾

Philippians has become one of my favorite books of the Bible. It is full of instruction and encouragement and I find myself studying that book over and over.

What Paul says (ESV) in chapter 2 verse 4 pretty much sums up how I believe I am supposed to live my life. Paul writes: Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. This Scripture not only reminds me of the famous "Do unto others" Bible verse, but takes it one step further.

We are constantly reminded of our own circumstances, good and bad, and we tend to dwell there. Paul tells us to look to others' interest also. That is not an easy thing to do, especially in these times. But, God isn't surprised at what we are going through and it doesn't say "look to others' interests unless it gets too tough".

What exactly does the Scripture mean by the word 'interests'? I had always skimmed over it thinking I needed to work on being kinder and more merciful. A few months back my pastor preached on Philippians, including this verse. He suggested we apply this text by leaving the word 'interests' blank and then inserting whatever word was appropriate to the situation. Uh oh! This just got a little harder. If my pastor's meddlng...er, interpretation was correct, I am to look to others' needs, issues, hurts and celebrations. Let's see, look not only to my health, but to the health of others; look not only to my finances, but to the finances of others; look not only to my hurts, but to the hurts of others.

Ouch. I have a long way to go to live life this way, but I am progressing. I see God changing me a little bit at a time and my hope is my relationship with Jesus outshines the other stuff. My desire is to be a good an faithful servant of the Most High God. Now, if I just do it, but that's another article.

http://www.esvstudybible.org/search?q=Phil+2

Article submitted Tuesday, August 25, 2009 & read 759 times.

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» left by Marijo Phelps⁽¹³³⁾ (3 years 272 days ago.)

Lorrie~ this is the first time I have seen your pieces on this website (but I am rather a "newbie" here) SO glad to see this and, well, receive your pastor's "meddling" through your challenging and well written article! Marijo
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» left by Lorrie from not logged in (3 years 272 days ago.)

Thanks, Marijo, for reading and your comment. This is my first time posting here. I promised Teresa I would write something; thankfully she didn't put a time limit on me, because I was slow to honor my promise. Yeah, I think my pastor definitely "meddled" but, I have to agree with him.

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» left by Teresa^(1,344) (3 years 272 days ago.)

Hi Lorrie, I love this word! It was worth the wait. I don't like that inserting in the blank thing, but it is true, what a great reminder of walking the talk. Thanks again. I am blessed. Hugs, T
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» left by Lorrie from not logged in (3 years 271 days ago.)

Thanks, Teresa. I know, the blank thing...sheesh! I'm glad you read and commented. And look at WWBS! Taking flight, it is!

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» left by Anne Linington from Isle of Wight, UK (3 years 271 days ago.)

I very much enjoyed this article and it leads us away from self-centredness and preoccupation- naval gazing for want of a better expreesion, so typical of the reality shows on today's TV.
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» left by Lorrie from not logged in (3 years 271 days ago.)

LOL - Anne! I love your comment. Thanks for reading and giving your thoughts! I appreciate it.

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