Making the Interests of Christ Our Own
They all look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But Timothy's worth you know. (Phil. 2:21-22a)
Phil. 2:1-22 and 3:8; Matt. 13:22; Luke 18:29-30; Col. 3:2; II Tim. 4:10
What Is God Saying?
Timothy appears to have been the most effective and the most trusted of Paul's associates. He had a winsome personality and the wise-beyond-his-years ability to help in the spiritual care and nurture of the new Church in Philippi. In this letter which sings of joy and the warmth of friendship, there is a note of sadness, ‘They all look after their own interests.’ Was it a wave of discouragement fostered by the hardships of imprisonment? Is that why he uses this strong language, ‘All look after their own interests’?
Nevertheless, Timothy was a light in the darkness of Paul's prison life. He must go with this letter to Philippi. The Church he loved so much must receive this letter from the hands of a person he loved and trusted. Others may have been qualified to go, but unable. Still others might have been able to go, but not qualified. The truth is that being absorbed in our agenda, and looking after our own interests has disqualified many Christians from being useable servants of our loving and self-giving Master. This may hit a sensitive nerve but it can also awaken us to the priorities of loyalty and love.
How Does This Apply To Us?
Timothy's youthful enthusiasm and single-minded loyalty to Jesus Christ show a maturity that we, whatever our chronological age, should desire. ‘Let each of you look not only to his own interests’ (2:4) suggests that we look after our interests, but not exclusively. Then there comes this clear exhortation, ‘The attitude you should have is the one that Jesus had’ (vs.5, GNB). His only interest was doing the will of God. He emptied Himself and made Himself nothing (2:7). His highest interest was loving us into Heaven, even if it meant the way of the Cross (2:8).
Pray With Me
O Lord, I want a heart like Timothy's heart to serve Christ before self, a heart to lift up Christ with fearless disregard for my position or prestige, a heart so busy pointing others to life that no attention will be wasted. The only worth of my life that can outlast the fickle praise of men is identified with Jesus Christ who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Let my life, my honor, and my desire be identified with the living, loving Redeemer. As He lives, so will I. As He loves, so will I. As He died, so did I, crucified with Christ. As He rose from the dead in resurrection power and glory, so I will rise each day to the joy of victory that has been won—to the realizati0n that in Him and with Him I am free. I would bring all my interests so in line with the interests of Jesus Christ that when I am looking after one, I am looking after the other.
In the name of Him who has been highly exalted and given a name which is above every name, even Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen.
Moving On In The Life of Prayer
Prayer is the time when we look after our own interests. God commands it and commends it, but prayer has wings when we pray about the interests of others. Joy in prayer, power in prayer, and results in prayer come when (like Timothy) we look after the interests of Christ and the welfare of others. That is the way prayer is transformed from a boring habit into a joyful privilege.
