WHY FORGETTING OURSELVES IS NECESSARY FOR HOLINESS by Andrew Menkis for Core Christianity
Sometimes I need to remind myself of the radical nature of the second greatest commandment. Christians are not merely commanded to love their neighbor. That on its own might be feasible, especially depending on how we define what it means to love your neighbor. But that is not the whole commandment. We are called to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves! If we honestly examine our thoughts, feelings, motivations, and actions I think we will find that we really, really love ourselves.
So much of what we say and do is for our own benefit and to meet our desires. So much of what we expect from others is centered on ourselves, not them. For example: Have you ever forgiven yourself for something that you wouldn’t forgive someone else for? Have you ever made an excuse for your actions that you would never accept from your spouse, kids, or co-workers? We do things like that all the time because we love ourselves far more than our neighbors. If we are to love our neighbors the way Christ calls us to we must put to death selfishness and replace it with acts of loving service. One way to accomplish this is through the art of self-forgetfulness.
Union with Christ: The Foundation of Christian Service
Service is anything we do that strives to meet the needs and wants of others by giving our time, energy and resources. There are many reasons people serve but only one motivation for true Christian service. We are to serve because God first served us. The Apostle Paul makes this clear in Philippians 2:5-11:
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Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
We learn in these verses that Christian service finds its foundation in our union with Christ. When are united to Christ by faith the Holy Spirit gives us a new outlook on life, we have the mind of Christ. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection show us how we ought to think and act. The incarnation itself was an act of service. Christ freely gave up the outward splendor and glory that displayed his eternal divine nature in exchange for the form of a servant, a human form, which obscured the reality of who he truly is. As a servant, he obeyed God the Father perfectly, even when it meant relinquishing the reward and blessing he deserved for perfectly obeying God, and instead receiving the curse and punishment we deserve for our sin. This humble service, relinquishing of his very life, is what Christians are called to emulate.
