I “Still” Do – Secrets to Long Lasting Relationships

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. ⁵In your relationships with one another have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Philippians 2:3-8

Welcome February, the month of LOVE! We will spend the next four weeks talking about love and looking at some key passages about the four different kinds of love mentioned in the Bible;

• Eros (Pronounced: AIR-ohs) – Sensual or romantic love
• Storge (Pronounced: STOR-jay) – Family Love
• Philia (Pronounced: FILL-ee-uh)) – Friendship love
• Agape (Pronounced: Uh-GAH-pay)  –  Perfect Love

Our first kind of love we will talk about is Eros – the romantic love. The Cupid and paper hearts kind of love. The Hallmark Channel kind of love. The kind of love between husbands and wives.

Love your spouse more than you love your career, hobbies and money. That other stuff can’t love you back. – Dave Willis

I am calling today’s devotion “I (still) Do!” We are going to look at these verses in Philippians to see what relationship advise God has for our marriages. Applying these guidelines to all your relationships will work, married or not.

Looking at our verse today, what makes following these instructions so hard? Why do we tend to look at our own interest first? Do you feel guilty about doing that? I know I am guilty of that and yes, I do feel bad and want to change.

Fear can make us think we need to look out for #1 (us). I struggle with trusting in the abundance of God. I struggle with feeling worthy of Gods extravagant love. It takes trust, both in God and in our relationships to believe our needs are going to be meet and free us to act as Jesus relates to others, with humility, and without self-ambitions.

In verse 4 of this passage it talks about taking an interest in one-anothers interests. Why do you think that is important?

As Richard and I are entering the empty nest phase of life, it is starting to become even more evident in why this is so important. Being invested in each other’s lives is important. We need to have the connection that is only possible when you know, love and respect one another. What is important to my husband, needs to be important to me and vice versa.

The next verses point to the example of Christ as the right standard for our relationships with each other. A healthy relationship will look like two people walking side by side, no one putting themselves in a position of power over the other. Christ Jesus models this mindset by not only not taking advantage of His position as the Son of God, but serving in humility those He came to save.

Finally, we see the extent to which Jesus humbled Himself for the sake of fulfilling God’s plan for having a relationship with us. In our relationships with one another, how far should we go in humbling ourselves for the sake of one another?

Our last verse tells us to what extent Jesus humbled Himself for the sake of fulfilling God’s plan for having a relationship with us. So, how far should we go in humbling ourselves for one-another?

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. – John 13:34

Let this verse motivate you to be proactive in loving your spouse, as you take your cues in this from Jesus Himself.

Heavenly Father thank you for our relationships, spouse and otherwise. We desire to take our cues from you and serve one another in love and with a flare of humility. Help us to see this as a privilege that is a joy to do. We love how you love us and want to love others as you have loved us. Amen

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