Philippians 4:1; Heart Transplant

“Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!”

If you recall, last week we talked about as citizens of heaven, we should function differently than those who don’t follow Christ.  In his final exhortations, Paul shows us one way that we should stand out. 

What does the world value?  Money, influence, self-reliance, entertainment, the newest thing, the approval of others, etc.  What does the Kingdom of God value?  People. 

And why not?  People are the only “things” created in the image of God.  People are the only things that will continue for eternity.  When Jesus said, “I came to seek and to save the lost.” He wasn’t talking about the car keys – he was talking about people.  Your purpose, and mine, is to influence the people around us for Christ.  To do that, we must love people.

Paul obviously loved these people – look at the words he uses to describe his feelings toward them.  He calls the Philippians his brothers and sisters.  I don’t think he was using Sunday morning church-speak, these people were like his family.  He missed them and longed to be with them.  He called them his joy and his crown – those are terms I would not use for just anybody. 

As Paul ministered to the Philippians he poured his life into them – he held nothing back.  How does my life match up with that?  Not so great.  I like people.  I am concerned for people.  I try to help people…especially if it doesn’t require too much time, effort, or money.  I am ashamed to say that I am often more interested in me than I am in others (just like the world).

Paul would take me to task for that attitude, and rightfully so.  But how can I change?  How can I love people like Jesus did?  Try as I might, I cannot make myself love people better.  That can only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit transforming me into someone a lot more like Jesus. 

Pray that you would love people the way that God loves people.  Ask God to give you His heart for those around you. While the Spirit is doing His thing, start looking at those around you – how can you meet their needs?  As Christ transforms your heart and you take your eyes off yourself to notice those around you, your ability and desire to love people will grow!

“In the New Testament, love is more of a verb than a noun.  It has more to do with acting than with feeling.  The call to love is not so much a call to a certain state of feeling as it is to a quality of action.” – RC Sproul