Philippians 2:1–4
When a church lays aside its small disagreements and centres itself on the love of Christ, it can defeat even the greatest darkness in the world. Today I want to tell you a story of remarkable unity and love inside a prison during communist rule in Romania. In that period, when Christians were put in prison because of their faith, a form of the church appeared there that astonished the world. Inside the prison, Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox and believers from many other traditions were held together. Out in the world there were small differences among these groups, but in the darkness and suffering of the prison they became one, like the parts of a single body. They made a rule: “No one inside this prison will go hungry.” The prisoners were given only a small piece of bread once a week and a little dirty soup, which was not even enough to keep them alive. Yet those believers decided to give a “tithe” even out of that small amount of food. Each one would save a portion of his bread over ten weeks and give it to the weakest, the sick and the elderly prisoners, no matter which tradition they belonged to. Once, when a believer was giving his last piece of bread to a prisoner who was near death, the jailer asked him, “You are dying of hunger yourself — why do you give this bread to another?” The believer answered quietly, “We are one in Christ. When one part of His body hurts, we all hurt. If my brother lives, I will live in him.” Because of this unity and selfless love shown in such hard conditions, the hearts of many communist officers and other prisoners were changed. They came to understand that the church is not a building or an institution, but a living family bound together in the love of Christ — where suffering and hardship do not separate people but bind them even closer.
Paul says that unity and love become possible in the church when we count one another “better than ourselves.” Philippians 2:3 says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” This sounds easy, but in practice it is very hard. Our human nature always wants to put itself above others and to look down on them. But the love of Christ turns our heart inside out. We must look not only to our own interests, but “also to the interests of others.” True Christian unity comes only when we lay aside selfishness and give ourselves to serving others. If we have known the comfort that is in Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, this humility must appear in us. Our heart must not beat only for itself, but for the good of others.
Do you count others better than yourself? Or are you always looking for your own praise and comfort? Look for a chance to serve someone today. Help to carry someone else’s burden. Only when we are humble do we become true disciples of Christ. May the love of Christ change our selfish hearts.
Prayer: Lord, set me free from my selfish nature. Give me a humble heart that serves others and honours others. Amen.