Daily Devotional
"Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."
Philippians 2:4
Notice how sweeping the verse is: whatever you wish that others would do to you. The word whatever is comprehensive. Nothing is excluded from its scope. Not your marriage. Not your kids. Not your coworkers. Not the driver who cut you off this morning. Not the church member who disappointed you or the family member who will not speak to you. And in the Greek, the you is emphatic. Others may not follow this rule, but for a disciple there is no escaping it.
There is also no expectation of getting something back. Dale describes spouses who buy into a biblical marriage, serve humbly for a month, and then come back angry because the other person has not changed. The actions were right, but the heart motive was wrong from the start. That is the fruit of a bad root. Jesus assumes that disciples who seek God’s desire will not be self aggrandizing. This is not a loophole for indulging our appetites; it is love defined by God, aimed at your neighbor, with you holding the obligation. As Morris puts it, the person who consistently lives by this rule is keeping every regulation in Scripture that directs conduct toward other people.
So here is the diagnostic question for your week: is self interest dominating your conversation, your actions, and your goals? Do you always have to be right, always have to get your way? Adams makes a remarkable claim, that if you simply follow this instruction of the Lord, most of your problems with other people will evaporate. Pick one conflict you are in right now and ask what would happen to it if you put the other person where you have been putting yourself.
Today's Challenge
Name the one relationship where you most want an exception to this verse. What would change in that conflict if you treated that person the way you want to be treated, without waiting for them to change first?
Prayer
Father, I want an escape clause, a person or a situation where this rule does not apply. But you left me none. Search my conversations, my actions, and my goals, and show me where self is on the throne. Help me love without keeping score. In Jesus' name, Amen.
