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“Have you ever thought about hugging me?!”
“What?! This isn’t exactly huggable!”
I can remember these lines from an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond. Deborah is pretty furious about some things her husband has done over the years, and she lets him have it. But her defense is simple: she just wants a hug.
Ray, completely terrorized and dumbfounded by his wife’s rampage, responds with a brutally honest observation:
“This isn’t exactly huggable.”
He’s right. Sometimes we are so focused on ourselves—our own needs and desires—that we don’t even realize the monster we’ve become or how we come across to others.
So where is our humility?
Philippians 2:3–4
“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.”
Paul has been encouraging the believers in Philippi through his letter, focusing on unity. If the church is to be unified—of one mind and one spirit—there are key qualities that must be present.
And humility is one of the most important.
Being humble doesn’t mean we should think less of ourselves, but it does mean thinking of ourselves less.
We are naturally selfish people. After all, we are with ourselves all day. Of course, we tend to be inward-focused. But we can’t expect the church to survive or thrive if we all have the mindset of “me first.” If we all think we have the “best” idea, they will all fail.
But if we are focused on Christ and His mission, and we begin to see the needs of others, we can put our own needs to the side. We can see past the face in the mirror and begin to notice those around us.
When we approach life with a Christlike attitude, we can find joy in humbly serving others.
And we might just become more huggable.
Have you ever wondered what a life that truly looks like Christ is like? Let me show you. I want to introduce you to who Jesus is and what it looks like to follow Him. Visit follow.Lifeword.org.
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