The Direction of Unity

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

Philippians 2:3, New International Version

Wow!

God hit me with a 2x4 again!

The kind of pain that is worth the price.

This will be a few days to have this all thought out but here is a start.

All the stuff God has shown me about his love, his mercy and his grace has not been new but has been revealed to me a way I never experienced in my life to this date.

I have known of the love of God for decades but have not let his spirit flow through me so I could have him move in my heart and in my life.

This is my favorite verse that I really have tried to follow my whole Christian  walk. I have this verse on my wall at work and try to live this out not only at home but with my employees.

The operative words words her are "what I have tried  to do", not  asking God where he wants to lead me and how he wants me to show his love.

Do NOTHING out of selfish ambition or vain conceit 

How many times did I do something for the "Glory of God" but I was doing it for the glory of Rick. How often did  I think I was honoring God but what I was really doing was satisfying my need to feel wanted by doing things for my wife, my kids and others. My intentions were good for helping and satisfying a physical or emotional need but my motivation was not always pure. I was doing it for Rick and my satisfaction. not for  honoring God. I did not do this all the time, but the word NOTHING does not leave any wiggle room or , BUTS. It does not leave any room for thinking about myself. Selfish ambition or vain conceit are pretty bad.

I am guilty of both of these and I ask, you, God as I bow down on my knees  to forgive me for the times when I thought more about myself than I others. Let me come in to your presence as  you are the great healer and comforter. Let your spirit work in me. God forgive me for the times when I valued myself more than others and did things for Julie and the kids with selfish ambition and vain conceit. When I was thinking about myself more than others. Forgive me for making "me" the giver of good, and not give the honor and thanks to you. Forgive me for not giving you myself, totally, and letting you guide my actions, thoughts and words. Restore me and love me and use me for Your good, not mine

but in humility consider others better than yourselves.


Humility is the first step in realizing who I am before God. I know I did this, or at least tried. Based on the first part of this verse, I fell far short in allowing God to work in my heart to be a humble person.

I really did not consider others better than me. I thought I did but now I realize that I thought of them "as at least as good as me"

What a mistake that was. As God reveals the junk in my life, if I considered them as good as me, I really wasn't honoring them ,  AT ALL.

God is burning away all the dross. One of the meanings of dross is:

"something that is base, trivial, or inferior"

He is taking away those things that are  not important for his purposes to mold me according to his purposes.


Lord, forgive me for trivializing your word according to who I was and trying to project me on to other people. I  cannot be something,"I want to be"  but who you want me to be. I need to consider others WAY better than myself not just like myself.

That would not be honoring to God...

I was considering others like me, which was not what God wants me to do.

Restore me to a place where I value others better than myself as I humbly come before you this morning:

FALLEN
   BROKEN
          AND FORGIVEN

If I considered people like me, what was I doing to them. 

Tomorrow