COCO
What do we do when our passion conflicts with those we care about?
Who is going to win?
Talents help us matter.
Pursuing our own happiness above all else doesn't make us happy.
Look at how much encouragement you’ve found in your relationship with the Anointed One! You are filled to overflowing with his comforting love. You have experienced a deepening friendship with the Holy Spirit and have felt his tender affection and mercy. So I’m asking you, my friends, that you be joined together in perfect unity—with one heart, one passion, and united in one love. Walk together with one harmonious purpose and you will fill my heart with unbounded joy. Philippians 2:1-2 TPT
What we do is a response to what God has already done for us.
Be free from pride-filled opinions, for they will only harm your cherished unity. Don’t allow self-promotion to hide in your hearts, but in authentic humility put others first and view others as more important than yourselves. Abandon every display of selfishness. Possess a greater concern for what matters to others instead of your own interests. Philippians 2:3-4 TPT
The way to resolve differences is not by fighting for what you want but by choosing humility.
And consider the example that Jesus, the Anointed One, has set before us. Let his mindset become your motivation. He existed in the form of God, yet he gave no thought to seizing equality with God as his supreme prize. Instead he emptied himself of his outward glory by reducing himself to the form of a lowly servant. He became human! He humbled himself and became vulnerable, choosing to be revealed as a man and was obedient. He was a perfect example, even in his death—a criminal’s death by crucifixion! Philippians 2:5-8 TPT
We put others first because Jesus put us first.
But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect—life in its fullness until you overflow! John 10:10 PTP
Because of that obedience, God exalted him and multiplied his greatness! He has now been given the greatest of all names! The authority of the name of Jesus causes every knee to bow in reverence! Everything and everyone will one day submit to this name—in the heavenly realm, in the earthly realm, and in the demonic realm. And every tongue will proclaim in every language: “Jesus Christ is Lord Yahweh,” bringing glory and honor to God, his Father! Philippians 2:9-11 TPT
This passage:
*reminds us of the true nature of God
*challenges us to do for others what God has done for us
*teaches that when we put others first, everyone benefits