Day 18 – Daily Devotional – January 22, 2025 – Putting Others First

Phip 2:3-4   Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.  Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.

EXAMINE

Hello, Bethel   These verses describe two contrasting attitudes. The first attitude; selfish conceit, should be discarded from our life, the other, humility, should be developed. The verse begins with the charge to, “…do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit.” The word ‘conceit’ comes from a Greek word meaning “empty” and “self glory”. It refers to those who have an exaggerated perception of themselves. They’re all about their personal good and benefit, but in reality,  they’re “empty” of true spiritual health. This attitude should be vigorously fought against in us all. The proper attitude to develop is humility – considering others better than ourselves. The supreme example is, of course, Christ. He is the opposite of self-seeking. He has true glory beyond measure, yet He emptied Himself because of his love for us.

APPLY

C.S. Lewis said, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” We live in the era of, “It’s all about me! I’m the center of the universe.” We’d never actually say that, but by our actions, it’s abundantly clear who the boss is. Here’s a little test: How many selfies have you taken of yourself this month? We spend so much time and energy analyzing ourselves, pampering ourselves and living for ourselves that the concept of “others” is often foreign to us. Yet the Christian’s calling is to consider other people as more important. This doesn’t mean that we never take care of ourselves. After all, the Bible reminds us that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and that we must take care of it. Rather, it means that when it comes to being a godly spouse, friend, child or worker – we have to stop thinking about ourselves so much! Put the interest of others before your own interests! The more we focus on others, the less we’ll focus on ourselves. TIP: Take less selfies.

PRAY

Spend time today asking God for three things: 

1. Ask Him to help you think of yourself less in the course of the day

2. Spend some time praying for other people. Pray for the members of your family by name. Pray for your friends by name. And then pause for a couple minutes and see who else the Holy Spirit brings to mind, and then pray for them, too

3. Ask God to help you see opportunities to sacrifice your own desires for the good of someone else