Philippians 2:1-11
Chapter 2
Christian Love and the Humility of Christ
If I may advise you, in the name of Christ, and if you can hear it as the voice of love; if we share the same Spirit and are capable of mercy and compassion, then I beg you:make me very happy—have one love, one Spirit, one feeling.
Do nothing out of rivalry or vain conceit. Let each of you gently consider the others as more important than yourselves.
Don’t pursue your own interest, but rather, that of others.
Your attitude should mirror that of Jesus Christ.
Though he was in the form of God,
he did not consider equality with God
something to be grasped.
Instead, he emptied himself
by taking on the nature of a servant,
made in human likeness,
and appeared as a man,
He humbled himself
by obediently facing death
—death on the cross.
That is why God exalted him
and gave him the name
above all names,
so that at the name of Jesus, all knees should bow
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Commentaries
Christian Love and the Humility of Christ.
Paul begins his call to charity and humility with a strong display of motivation. While both themes are well known, the significance of these verses lies in their connection: humility is both the result and a foundation of genuine and lasting charity. If selfishness opposes love (cf. 1 Cor 10:24), then pride is its greatest enemy. One of the main psychological reasons Paul urges brotherhood is the affection and fellowship that bind him with the Philippians. To give them an example of Christ, Paul compiles and possibly revises a Christian hymn—whether Aramaic or Greek—that communities used to express their worship of Jesus Christ, affirming his divinity, incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and lordship.