I have a problem. It’s one that I struggle with daily. What is it? I easily get confused and think that my life is actually about me. But it’s not. My life is about God. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price.”
So how do I overcome this problem? God keeps bringing me back to the same passage of Scripture. It rattles around in my head over and over. It’s Philippians 2:5-11:
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
“He humbled himself and became obedient.” It sounds so simple. And in many ways it is. Lower myself and obey. This the core of the life of spiritual disciplines and mortification – to get my focus off of myself, to simply obey and allow God to determine the outcomes of my life.
Ironically, humility is the highest way to live. By lowering myself, I live above petty misunderstandings, false expectations, hurt feelings, cruddy circumstances and everything else that would strike at my soul. That’s because those things are no longer my business. When I learn to humble myself, I live for God and others and not myself.
My life is to be simply about incarnating God’s life; being a fragrance of heaven; being a light in the dark. Whatever the metaphor, the meaning is still the same. It’s not about me anymore. My vocation is to follow Christ. My life is about Christ. My relationships are about Christ. My gifts are Christ’s. My daily life is for Christ.
Father, in all I do, direct me to the fulfilling of your purpose; through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.
Journeying Home 
Sometimes I have to just stop and not rush past the obedience part. If I do things without even thinking, I believe somehow deep down that they won’t be counted against me or I’m not really sinning because God really didn’t say don’t. The fact is that I didn’t give Him a chance to say don’t. The fact is, deep down, I know that if I gave Him the chance, the answer would be NO.
It’s hard to slow down here in Southern California. We live at break-neck speed (except on the freeways.) Lord, I pray that we would all begin to slow down and listen to You and when we hear You that we would obey. I pray that especially for me and for our little community of faith.
Barb
I’ve been listening to the Gordon Fee tapes you gave me. MAAAAN. At points I just wept. Oh to be the people of the presence of God. It will only happen as we learn that it’s not about ME, it’s about Christ incarnate in his people. How cool is that?
Mark, I know what you mean. I’m realizing more and more that we can only be God’s people, his actual manifested presence on earth when we have the same attitude of Christ. I was just thinking last night that the Good News of the kingdom is that I have full access to everything God is and is doing so that I can have the very core of my being restructured so I can live completely in sync with God’s BEING and activity. Then his character and power are naturally and easily displayed in my daily life.