There were three elderly sisters who lived together in a big two story house and tried their best to help each other out. One day the oldest sister was upstairs and they heard here cry out oh my lord I think I am losing my mind. Her middle sister said what is it? She said I have a tub full of water and one foot is in the tub and the other is on the floor and I can’t remember if I’m getting into the tub or getting out. The middle sister heads up the stairs to try and help her older sister and suddenly stops halfway up the stairs, the youngest sister ask her “What’s the matter are you alright?” the middle sister replies “ I’m not sure I can’t remember if I was going up the stairs or coming down the stairs.” The youngest sister says “I’m glad I’m not as forgetful as you two, knock on wood” Hold on I’ll be up as soon as I get the door.
Let’s look at our text today (Read Philippians 2:5-11)
The text today tells us that we need to have within us the attitude of Christ. We must develop a Christ like mindset and to develop the mind of Christ we must first lose our minds.
The scripture says that Christ emptied himself and became just like one of us.
Imagine if you will Jesus looking down from that heavenly realm realizing that he is about to leave all of this to become a little baby relying on others to nurture him and care for him.
Now we must realize even though Jesus emptied himself He was still God, He still was a divine being, but he chose not to use his divine powers as the creator, he chose not to afflict wrath on men for what they would do. But even though he was divine and holy he stooped down in order to save us.
So how do we develop the attitude of Christ? We must free our minds of this world and empty ourselves the same as Jesus did.
In order for us to develop the attitude of Christ we must first lose our minds
We must empty our mind of:
1. Selfishness – We have got to change our attitude from what about me to what about him or her or them. We have got to begin to put others first. That means in our homes and our offices and yes even in the checkout line at the grocery store or anywhere else we meet someone who needs encouragement or lifting up.
2. Conceit – We must quit patting ourselves on the back and quit seeking recognition. It’s not about saying look at me it’s about God. Everything we do should point to the Father. Sometimes we get so high and mighty on ourselves we think we may be on equal footing with God or that we really don’t need god at all. We must empty our minds of that concept and realize that we need God in our lives and that everything we do should in some way, shape or form point to the Kingdom. We must quit taking the glory and give it to God
3. We must lose our mind of worldly thinking. Let’s face it we live in a me and mine world. We live in a world of instantaneous gratification. We live in a world that likes to say it isn’t my problem. But the Bible tells us otherwise, the Bible tells us to wait upon the Lord, the bible tells us to step out in faith knowing that God will answer our prayers and that God will take care of us. The bible tells us that we must give it all up for the kingdom that it’s not our will but thine O Lord. At the wedding at Cana when Mary said “they are out of wine” Jesus could have said “Not my problem” But he didn’t. When the Blind came to Him he could have said “I’m so sorry here’s a couple of bucks” but he didn’t. When Lazarus had lain dead 4 days Jesus could have said I’m sorry for your loss” but he didn’t he said “Lazarus come forth”, in the garden of Gethsemane He could have said no Father I don’t want to do this but he didn’t he said “Not my will but Thine” .
If we are to have the attitude of Christ we must empty ourselves as Jesus did and put others first we must remain focused on the Kingdom of God and the will of the Father. We can look away from the hurting and the destitute but we have been called to reach out to them, we have been charged as Christians to have the attitude of Christ and that attitude begins with love.
Now it stands to reason that if we empty ourselves then we should fill them back up. So how do we fill our minds in order to have the attitude and mind of Jesus Christ?
We fill ourselves with:
1. Love and compassion , we need to start thinking more about others than we do ourselves
2. Kindness, do a good deed every day. It’s easy, smile, say thank you or let me get that for you. Act like you got some Jesus in you. You know the worst thing in the world is to look at the face of a Christian and see sadness and defeat. We are the sons and daughters of royalty, we have been redeemed, we have been blessed we need to look and act like we have won the victory. Do like one of the new contemporary songs by the Newsboys says to do; Smile make them wonder what you got/ make em wish that they were not/ on the outside looking in. Get contagious with your Christianity.
3. Fill yourself with the Holy Spirit. Read your Bible faithfully claim all the promises that are within the scriptures, pray and get close to God and take heed when the Holy Spirit moves you. I promise you if you receive the Holy Spirit into the very fiber of your mind and being you will have the love and kindness that goes along with the attitude of Jesus. You are a child of the most High God let him show you the way.
So what would the attitude of Christ look like?
If someone was rude to you or you were getting bad service at a restaurant ….. You would just smile and lift them up
If someone came to you with some Juicy Gossip…. It would stop with you
Someone hurts your feelings….. Love them anyway
With the attitude and mind of Christ you would do everything in your power to lift folks up and make them feel better no matter how you were treated by them
The text tells us that because of the obedience of Jesus he was exalted by God and that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.
When we take on the mind and attitude of Christ we need to develop that same obedience to God that Jesus had. When he calls we need to say “Here I am” I truly believe that when we are obedient to the will of God and we have the mind and attitude of Jesus that we will be exalted also. When we are obedient to God is when we find Joy and blessings abound in our life.
I challenge you to start living into the attitude of Christ and become fully obedient to the will of God and when you do who knows what great things will begin to happen in your life?
