Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Thursday, April 10, 2014

The dangers of reading the Bible


I am am currently studying Philippians 2:1-11. Everybody I talk to, who know the passage say, "wow! What a wonderful passage. Isn't Jesus wonderful?" I haven't reached that bit yet. I've got to be honest I am feeling rather weighed down by the bit before it.

"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. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:3-5).

Each of those phrases make me despair of myself. How often do I act out of selfish ambition? How much do I value others above myself? How often do I focus in the needs of others more than my own? When do I actually have Christ's attitude? Let me confess. The answers are "Very often, not a lot, not very often and almost never" in that order. 

And I haven't even got to the detail of Christ's attitude that I'm supposed to have!