PHILIPPIANS 2:6

“who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,”

In the Massai culture, if something is lying around not being used, they are free to pick it up and use it. A friend of mine served in Southern Kenya among the Massai and experienced this firsthand. He had laid his jacket on a chair outside his house while he was working only to discover it missing later. A few days later he saw his jacket on one of his Massai friends. He asked him about it and was told that since he wasn’t using it, he felt he could just pick it up and wear it. After all, he needed a jacket. Lol

This verse today contains a word that you normally would not associate with Jesus. “Something to be grasped” is translated in some versions as “robbery.” The Greek word in the noun form only occurs here. The verb form is used elsewhere. But here, this word really points to the thing being robbed, not the act of robbery. Let’s look at what Jesus did.

APPLICATION

Paul is continuing the thought of Christ’s humble attitude to which we should aspire. Christ was God. There is no question about that. He knew that and could have at any time exercised His authority. He chose to give up that while in this human form, but it was still His. He repeatedly told His disciples that He and the Father were one, did He not?

Okay, okay! We are not God. That’s a fact. However, we can choose to not grab or seize things out of respect for others and to show our own humility. Paul has been telling the Philippians to consider others before themselves, right? Jesus is our example for that. What do you need to lay down today out of respect for someone? Are you trying to seize power or authority that you could have at the expense of others?

Humility is hard. You’ve heard the song that says, “O Lord, it’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way.” A lot of us live that way. We equate humility with weakness which it is not. Humility takes a lot more strength than bullying. Don’t believe me? Give it a try and let me know how easy it was. But Jesus tells us to do this very thing. Stop grabbing and start releasing.

Thank You, Lord, for the power You give me through humility.