MAR - Controlling Outcomes and Ourselves
1-4 If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care—then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
Philippians 2:1-4 MSG
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
Philippians 2:1-4 ESV
God has done a lot for us, he’s restored us, fixed us, healed us, supernaturally provided for us many times and EVEN IF HE HASN’T, you’re alive today because God has a plan for you.
Because God is good, and he has been good to us, we have a responsibility.
We have a responsibility to not be manipulators.
We have a responsibility to not control people and outcomes.
Controlling outcomes is the absence of faith. Praying for God to help you with a situation and then making all attempts to control it is the best way to negate your faith. Faith is giving and believing in God even when you can’t see the outcome.
Controlling people is 100% manipulation and is demonic at its core.
If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ.
You can and should be able to disagree with people, but going out of your way to control others distorts our role as christian leaders and believers.
Let’s take all the key words that Paul is tasking us with:
Agree with each other,
love each other,
be deep-spirited friends.
Don’t push your way to the front;
don’t sweet-talk your way to the top.
Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead.
Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage.
Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
All of these key words are aligned with living the way God wants us to live. Ask yourself and have honest conversations with people you know and trust and ask them to tell you:
How often do I agree with you?
Do I put myself aside a lot?
How often do I make things about me?