Philippians

December 8

Philippians

Attitude is everything. Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians while sitting in jail, but you would not know it by the attitude of his letter. Paul is upbeat and encouraging throughout the letter. While events in his life may have been bad, Paul looked for the good in the midst of the hardships. He continued to praise God and to seek ways to spread the good news of the Gospel, even if it cost him his life. Paul saw purpose in his life, and that purpose gave him hope. "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:20-21, NIV)  For Paul to live meant he would continue to serve Jesus, for him to die meant he would get to see Jesus. No matter what he faced he trusted God to bring him through.

Paul wrote that our attitude should be the same as Jesus (2:5). Jesus humbled himself and died on the cross for us, but there is coming a day when the Father will exalt him above every name. Jesus did not exalt himself, though He could have. He humbled himself. In the same way, we are called to humble ourselves, to serve others, to look out for the interest of others instead of always focusing on what we want.

Paul went on to say; "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14, NIV) Paul did not focus on the past, but on the future. He looked ahead to Jesus instead of looking back at his failures and the failures of others. When we keep our eyes on Jesus the troubles of this world fade.

Rejoice in the Lord and focus on the good instead of the bad and your attitude will change. When we focus on the work God is doing in our midst, we see Him working and we find peace in the midst of the chaos of life. Rejoice, and allow God to change your attitude.