One another

Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Philippians 2:1-5

One thing that new life in Christ does within the lives of believers is freedom from selfishness for they are recipients of His rich grace. From the text, Paul emphasized the freedom that believers have because of their relationship with Christ. Christians who walk in the Spirit are free from selfishness and they are freed to love others unselfishly. Paul’s admonition is that spiritual people will show concern for one another and respond properly to a fellow Christian. “Dog eat dog” and “Me first” may express the prevailing principle, but the Christian offers a counter principle: “Brother help brother,” and “You first.” The Lord Jesus Christ gave a new command to His disciples; “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (john 13:34-35). Jesus lays this down as the world’s test of true discipleship. Christ provided us an example of what loving one another should look like when He humbled Himself, giving up His divine privileges when He was born and by His death as a criminal at the cross. All His sacrifices have set us free so that we would be able to help someone else. In a society that has been organized for the degeneration of others, Christians labor to build up others. There is no such thing as private Christianity. Our spiritual quest always requires social expression. Because we are members of each other (Romans 12:5) and “have fellowship with one another” (1 John 1:7), we are urge constantly to have others on our mind. We “carry each other’s burdens.” It’s “the law of Christ.”

Blessings