To have “lowliness of mind” (Phil 2:3) is to have a humble opinion of oneself. This is the opposite of the man-centered philosophy of this world which teaches that man is to think highly of himself, and is to seek after recognition by boasting of his achievements or possessions. He will always put himself in the limelight so that he can obtain the “vainglory” (Phil 2:3a, i.e. empty glory) he so desires. This “pride of life” (1 John 2:16) does not diminish with age because of man’s increasing accomplishments. This was a problem in the Philippian church and Apostle Paul had to warn them in Philippians 2:3-4. There were those in the Philippian church who preached with wrong motives. They were not false teachers, but they preached out of jealousy.

The solution lies in our attitude. As Christians, we are to have “lowliness of mind,” the evidence of which is in the attitude of esteeming others better than ourselves (Phil 2:3b). When others point out our faults to us, we must correct ourselves, for they did it out of their love for us (Prov 27:6). We must be teachable, and keep improving. This attitude must be sincere, genuine and without pretense, i.e. we truly desire others to be better than ourselves and do not look down on others whatever their status in life is. This, however, is difficult to achieve because it is against the principles/logic of this self-centered world. But we can still have this “lowliness of mind.” In order to attain it, we must remember that we are all sinners. If not for the mercy and grace of our loving God who sent His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come into this world and die on the cross for the remission of our sins, we will be condemned and be without hope. We can accomplish nothing on our own for we are all born in sin, and the talents that we possess are not of our own credit but were given to us by God. As such, there is nothing in this world that we can boast about. Who we are and everything that we have and achieved originate from God.

Therefore, with this understanding that we are nothing without Christ, we cannot think highly of ourselves. Instead, we must think of others first before we think of self (Phil 2:4). We must show more consideration for others and have the desire to build them up spiritually. We must not be an agent of Satan, but be mindful of our words, and be careful of our deeds, so as not to hurt others or cause them to stumble in their faith. And we must want this for ourselves, our family and our church.