I suppose the details are all in the interpretation.

I went to church intent on hearing a particular preacher, only to find him absent from the pulpit.

The guest ministers sermon on humility was a stark reminder that it is all about the message and never about the messenger.

Fortunately for me, that was one of the spiritual lessons I learned from the minister who saved my life coincidentally, the one whom I was going to hear on that Sunday.

Humility, as the pastor was trying to clarify and explain, should be viewed as described in Philippians 2. The entire chapter is devoted to Pauls message to the Church at Philippi regarding imitating Christs humility.

As I listened, humility transformed from my initial context of docile behavior to a fact of faith and strength of character.

By that I mean, it was made clear that Christ chose to consider Himself at best equal to, if not lesser than his fellow man.

Remember, were talking about God here. He consciously chose to make Himself human in order to serve His divine purpose.

The text tells us, Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but, in humility, consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interest of others.

Now, my recollection of Christ says thats a pretty good description of how He looked upon His duty and that was pretty much what got Him killed.

I mean, isnt it interesting that the most dangerous and, therefore the most powerful and important thing you can do in life is to care about someone else more greatly than you care for yourself?

This humility thing does indeed have inherent power.

Paul teaches us that it is our fundamental responsibility, as Christians, to be united in our effort to emulate Jesus denunciation of status, pride, ego and self.

Surely, if anyone had a right to be arrogant, it was the living Son of God.

You try being the walking, talking Word and deliberately transform yourself into a mere mortal human being.

If you can grasp that thought, please dont let it blow your mind because you know you couldnt do it become Christ and die willingly on the cross by the hands of mere men.

Fortunately, as the minister made clear, Paul is not asking us to do the impossible. He let us know that our goal is service unto man.

Put a lid on what we think of ourselves and our prideful independence in favor of our collective interdependence upon each other and the Almighty.

Christ died to save us all and here in Philippi, Paul tells us that our conduct must be rooted in the following truth: out of this thing called humility, Christ saved the world.

Are we better than him? Think it through.

If you look down your nose at anyone for any reason, if you truly think youre better than anyone else, then you think youre better than Jesus, who thought himself no better and even less than you.

He died in service to us, you and me.

Do something good for someone else today simply because you can.

If you dont get this, may God bless and keep you always.

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Spiritually speaking: The inherent power of humility | Religion - The Philadelphia Tribune