I was preparing my Bible study lesson for Sunday, when I was reminded of a parallel verse of Scripture. We are learning about the godly character that God is developing in us as we obey Him. This week it was humility and the passage was from Philippians 2:1-11 about having the mind of Christ. This tells us so much of the heart of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ . Their desire to bring us into submission to the good news of the gopel of God. We are challenged to “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”. But what is His mind? It is one of humility. That word in the Bible means “not thinking of yourself, but thinking of others first”. When we see Jesus we see a Man who was always looking out for the needs of others rather than Himself. So how do we have His mind when we are selfish, sinful humans? He shows us how.

Jesus existed before the world was made. He was always God’s Son with all the power and rights of God. But He willingly gave up all His rights as God to forever have a human body and come to earth to show us what His Father is like. He loved people, even those who hated Him; He had compassion on the crowds–healing, feeding and teaching them. He shows us how to rely on the Father ourselves for whatever needs we may have and how to help others with their needs. Jesus emptied Himself of His power, authority as God, and personal desires so that we could be delivered from sin and its power over us.

Here is the parallel that came to my mind from Luke 9:23: Christ asks of us to do what He has done. If we desire to know Him in all His fullness, we must first, “deny yourselves.” I love the way J.B. Phillips puts it in his New Testament paraphrase. He says, “Give up all right to yourself.” Just as Jesus emptied Himself of His right to be God so He could take on human flesh, we are to give up all our rights to be who He calls us to be rather than following our own selfish desires..

Second, Jesus humbled Himself and became obedient to the Father. He submitted to the Father’s will, even to death His death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. Jesus calls us to be submissive to Him, to do His will and “take up your cross daily”. That means we must be willing to die to our selfish desires and wants. Jesus never did anything for His own pleasure. He was tempted just as we are, yet without sin. He always put loving others first and doing what He could to help them. This is our cross. Our cross to bear is turning away from our own weakness, selfishness and sin to allow Jesus to live His life through us. His attitude is to be ours. We are to live as His lived in love and compassion for others.

Finally “Follow me: Jesus said. Just as Jesus followed the will of His Father by speaking and doing only what the Father told Him to do; we are to follow the will of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are to “Reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:11.

See also: Galatians 2:20; Romans 8