Our Daily Bread devotional, June 9, 2016 - What Really Matters

Topic: What Really Matters [June 9, 2016]

Read: Philippians 2:1–11, Bible in a Year: 2 Chronicles 32–33; John 18:19–40

In humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others. Philippians 2:3–4

Two men sat down to review their business trip and its results. One said he thought the trip had been worthwhile because some meaningful new relationships had begun through their business contacts. The other said, “Relationships are fine, but selling is what matters most.” Obviously they had very different agendas.

It is all too easy—whether in business, family, or church—to view others from the perspective of how they can benefit us. We value them for what we can get from them, rather than focusing on how we can serve them in Jesus’s name. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul wrote, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Phil. 2:3–4).

People are not to be used for our own benefit. Because they are loved by God and we are loved by Him, we love one another. His love is the greatest love of all.

Prayer: Teach me, Lord, to see people as You do—bearing Your image, being worthy of Your love, and needing Your care. May Your great love find in my heart a vessel through which that love can be displayed.

This message was written by Bill Crowder [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]