December 4 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading:

Philippians 2:1-16

¹If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
²Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
³Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
⁴Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
⁵Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
⁶Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
⁷But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
⁸And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
⁹Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
¹⁰That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
¹¹And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
¹²Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
¹³For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
¹⁴Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
¹⁵That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
¹⁶Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

Devotional:

A woman who married in her late thirties was questioned about the change that marriage had brought to her life. She revealed that marriage had made her realize how very self-centered her life had been before. Now every thought was turned outward to the needs of her husband and his two children. There was little time for the former concern for self. This was an abrupt experience of change for her. She retained her own interests, but now the emphasis was upon others, not self.

This woman was not complaining, let us hasten to add! She found great joy in her new role and commented upon the understanding and tenderness of her husband in helping her to become the mother of his two teenagers overnight. What was behind her comments was rather a sort of shame at the self-centeredness of her life before her marriage. And she is not alone in this experience.

Some married people never get to the point to which she had come. They remain selfish. They are rigid and defensive. They are not flexible enough to do things just to please their mate, not sensitive enough to perceive his or her emotional and spiritual needs.

Paul gives the Philippians the example of Jesus, who left the courts of heaven for the paths of earth. The Creator faced death for the sake of those whom He had created, those who did not even acknowledge His creatorship! He is the One we should emulate in our marriage, not spending time and effort in weighing each other's actions and motives, but in love giving of ourselves freely, with honest humility.

This is the unity of marriage. This is being 'one in spirit and purpose' (2:2 NIV).