Philippians 2:3 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves."

I cannot help but think of how CS Lewis said it, "In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that---and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison--- you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you." (CS Lewis, "Mere Christianity" p.96)

That is in essence what pride is. When we have distorted and exalted our place. And if we refuse to humble ourselves before man, we cannot be humble before God. Just as it happened it Eden, man, in their pride, sought to overrule God. They took the fruit in disobedience because it promised exaltation, that they would be like God. Their lack of humility showed, not only in their relationship to God, but also in their relationship to each other. Neither of them took ownership of the sin, but blamed the other, attempting to in some way exalt themselves while tearing down the other.

The world screams every man for himself, creating chaos and disunity. But we are called to something higher. When we put God in his proper place and realize our undeservedness  of his goodness and grace, we will be compelled to extend the same grace to others, considering then as better than ourselves. In realizing that before God we have no rights, neither will we have any to claim before man.

The verse right before this one sets stage for the humble attitude I am to wear. Philippians 2:2 reads, "...make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose." As the body in Christ, we have one purpose, one hope. Our mission is to build the body, not exalt ourselves. That is why there is no room for selfish ambition or vain conceit. Because a body is dependant. A body works together to grow. One part of the body is weak where another part is strong. It is a unit. In pride, I tend to isolate myself from the body, seeking to build myself up through my selfish ambitions and conceit, disconnecting myself from the body and adopting an 'every man for himself' attitude. When I refuse to humble myself, and think of myself to highly, I am forgetting the common purpose with the body of Christ that i am called to work together to fulfill.

This past week the Lord has been revealing to me walls that I have built up in my heart that have been preventing me from greater unity with the body of Christ. In selfishness I have built them. Their purposes of these walls vary, but they are all rooted in one thing: pride. My application is to go before God and meditate on his grace that he has given me although I have nothing to offer and then to bring before him some of these walls that I have built, asking him to remove them.