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In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus\u2026 (Philippians 2:5)

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Jesus lays down for us the two greatest commandments: Love the Lord Your God with all you\u2019ve got and love your neighbour as yourself.\xa0 Jesus himself then goes on to define the love he\u2019s talking about through his own life, by dying for us on the cross.\xa0 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.\xa0

This is the crux of the Christian faith.\xa0 Jesus and him crucified is the entire story.\xa0 It tells us what Jesus has done for us.\xa0 It tells us what to preach.\xa0 It tells us how to live.\xa0 Keep Jesus and his cross at the centre\u2014as that thing that defines all else\u2014and everything else will find its way.\xa0 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.\xa0 He invites the Philippians to have this very same mindset as Jesus in their relationships with one another.\xa0 That is, to have the mindset of Christ and him crucified.\xa0 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.\xa0 It resonates with Jesus\u2019 own commands to love one another and to take up our cross and follow him.\xa0 By these things, the world will know we are his disciples.\xa0

It\u2019s not easy though.\xa0 There are times when I\u2019m right and the other person is wrong.\xa0 Times when I want what someone else has.\xa0 Times when I\u2019m paralyzed by what someone else thinks of me.\xa0 Times when I\u2019ve been hurt by someone or when I want to hurt someone for what they have said or done to me. \xa0These 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.\xa0

What are we to do when we come to these moments and find that our motivations are less than wholesome or holy?\xa0 Well, the invitation is to take on the mindset of Jesus and his cross.\xa0 We are called, to humbly die to ourselves.\xa0 In my own life, that has often looked like a prayer.\xa0 \u201cDear God, forgive me for my anger towards so-and-so\u2014I don\u2019t want to, but help me to love them instead.\u201d\xa0 Asking forgiveness is a humbling action.\xa0 It\u2019s a dying to ourselves.\xa0 But in that action, we take on the mindset of Christ that frees us to love.

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