3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
4 Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
Verses 3 & 4 provide a guideline for the phrases from verse 2, above: “being of same mind”, “maintaining the same love”, “united in spirit”, and “intent on one purpose”. Verses five through eight will give us an example for which to follow.
Vs. 3 - “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit” - Almost self-explanatory. As Christians we are not to be focused on ourselves. We have nothing for which we can be proud.
Proud of our sins? Isn’t that why we try to hide our sins from others? Isn’t that why we try to hide them from God?
Proud of what we have done to attain righteousness? Can we say we have earned our salvation?
We are warned about putting too much hope in our self-worth. (See Rom. 12:3)
Thinking too highly of ourselves will lead to problems. (See: 2 Tim. 3:2; Jam. 3:14, 16)
Jesus had few kind words for the self-righteous and conceited Pharisees. (See Matt. 27, especially 27:27, 28.) If that chapter was one speech - no wonder the leaders were furious. If it was a collection of statements about the Pharisees’ leadership - He didn’t let up on them, at all!!
“with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves” - Sometimes when playing golf with buddies, and they hit a great shot, we tease them saying, “We are not worthy...” That obviously is fake self-abasement. Paul is telling the Philippians, “Realize your deep sense of your moral littleness.” We owe it all to Jesus, to God’s grace and His mercy
Vs. 4 - “do not merely” - Same thought as in verse three, above, stated differently. The ideas expressed by the repetition are for emphasis (Yup. I just repeated the thought). We see this technique used throughout the Bible, especially in Proverbs. “Selfishness” = Personal interests. “Interest of others” = others more important than yourselves.
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