Thursday, October 5, 2023

Philippians 2:2 -- On Love and Priorities

"Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind."
Philippians 2:2


I like the idea that the way to fulfil other people's joy, specifically Paul's joy, and likely God's joy as well, as evidenced in 3 Nephi when Christ said that his joy was full, is to love others and get along with them, finding ways to agree rather than disagree.

The chapter continues with some suggestions on how to accomplish this... esteeming others as better than ourselves is good practical advice for avoiding the trap of thinking that we are better than anyone, and there is also some good advice about not only paying attention to our own things, but also to other people's things. I think this helps us to remember that we shouldn't take advantage of others or deal with treachery, seeing strangers as prey, but that we should treat everyone with respect, looking for ways that we can learn from or assist them rather than ways that they can help us.

We shouldn't take this to mean that we should embrace self-hatred, but rather just a shifting of priorities. Today, let's flip around our selfishness and put God and others ahead. As we learn to love others we will also learn more of God's love for us, and his way, and his will, as well as our place, and infinite potential, in his kingdom.

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