Wednesday 21 Apr 2021

April 21: Philippians 2:1-11
 
Key Verse: Philippians 2:7
rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
 
Devotion:
How many of your friends are friends because they like or do the same things as you? How many of those people were almost guaranteed to be friends just because they had a similar background upbringing to you? You will probably be amazed at how many of your friends are friends because they have done things like you in the past. How many friends do you have who are totally different to you? How many friends do you have who do things totally differently to you? Not so many of them...
 
Unfortunately, we do tend to judge people because of their outward appearance and their backgrounds rather than who they are on the inside! This is a constant theme in the Bible as people tend to stick with like-minded people and even change their own ways so they can fit in better at times! Not what Christ did and not what He teaches!
 
Jesus was born from parents who started off not even being married when He was conceived. He was on the run from the authorities right from the beginning. He came to teach the teachers and lift up the poor and unknown – very different from the way the teachers at the time behaved!
 
God looks at people from a very different perspective than we do and that is why He knows us better than our friends and better than our enemies. He looks at us how we are now and how we choose to behave, not what we have done, where we have lived or who our parents were. Christ looks at us! If we can be more like Christ, we can get along much better with all people and hope to love them like Christ loves us – from the inside out!
 
Points to Ponder:
How do you meet friends?
 
Will you step out of your comfort zone to make a friend today?