Emptying the Flesh

“…but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant…” Phil 2:7

I continue my study of servanthood as it relates to the development into the mind of Christ. The characteristics of a servant are humble, obedient, willing, loyal, faithful, watchful, courageous, non-quarrelsome, gentle, teachable, patient, meek, good and wise. I don’t know about you but this makes me exhausted just reading it, nonetheless striving to live it. God’s desire for our servanthood above everything is our character. Our character and who we are as we serve is far more important to God than what we do to serve.

The first quality in the heart of a servant is humility. I was fortunate to witness the life of a humble servant consistently lived out in her life in my grandmother. In everything she did it was accomplished in and through her humility. In powerful translation, the phrase ‘made himself nothing’ literally means ‘emptied himself.’ My NIV Study Bible states, ‘He did this, not by giving up deity, but by laying aside his glory and submitting to the humiliation…Another view is that he laid aside the prerogatives – the high position and glory of deity.’ P. 1840.

We are called to empty ourselves as Christ did while on the earth. To empty ourselves is to free up spiritual space for God to work in and through us to accomplish His work He has set upon us. We are to empty any rights or prerogatives that we feel we have in life. We are to set aside our own agenda and our own pursuit of glory and position. Many years ago I wrote in the back of my Bible ways I can strive for humility. I am still striving and falling short but the importance is on the pursuit of humility. Christ made it look so easy but humility is one of the most difficult postures of our heart that we can master. Only through our pursuit and deepening of fellowship with Christ can we grow in humility.

Remember that the key of being filled up with Christ is emptying ourselves. As my minister prays before his sermons ‘Lord, may you increase so that I may decrease.’