Mindset of Christ Jesus

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus… (Philippians 2:5)   Jesus lays down for us the two greatest commandments: Love the Lord Your God with all you've got and love your neighbour as yourself.  Jesus himself then goes on to define the love he's talking about through his own life, by dying for us on the cross.  As he offers his life, he gives all his heart, soul, mind, and strength in an act of love for the Father and for us.  This is the crux of the Christian faith.  Jesus and him crucified is the entire story.  It tells us what Jesus has done for us.  It tells us what to preach.  It tells us how to live.  Keep Jesus and his cross at the centre—as that thing that defines all else—and everything else will find its way.  In fact, if you do this: others will see the life of Christ in you as you live it, bringing glory and praise to God! So, when it comes to doing church together, Paul puts Jesus and his cross once again at the centre.  He invites the Philippians to have this very same mindset as Jesus in their relationships with one another.  That is, to have the mindset of Christ and him crucified.  As Paul will go on to tell, and as we will cover in the days to come, to have the mindset of Christ means having an attitude and practice of humble, loving submission before God that allows one to give everything else up and so be a loving servant to others. This command is at the very heart of the gospel.  It resonates with Jesus' own commands to love one another and to take up our cross and follow him.  By these things, the world will know we are his disciples.  It's not easy though.  There are times when I'm right and the other person is wrong.  Times when I want what someone else has.  Times when I'm paralyzed by what someone else thinks of me.  Times when I've been hurt by someone or when I want to hurt someone for what they have said or done to me.  These are the very sort of small, sometimes even petty things that undercut loving relationships in the church and that can breed mistrust, fear, discord, malice, slander, and the sort of fights that lead to division.  What are we to do when we come to these moments and find that our motivations are less than wholesome or holy?  Well, the invitation is to take on the mindset of Jesus and his cross.  We are called, to humbly die to ourselves.  In my own life, that has often looked like a prayer.  "Dear God, forgive me for my anger towards so-and-so—I don't want to, but help me to love them instead."  Asking forgiveness is a humbling action.  It's a dying to ourselves.  But in that action, we take on the mindset of Christ that frees us to love.