Today I'm Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Who is the most authentically humble person that you know? And what is it about that person's attitude, their concern for others, their approach to life that makes them so attractive? Here's the question. Would you like to be like that?
I want to be like that. Today, We together can learn how. Stay with me. Today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram reveals the secret to authentic humility. I'm Dave Druy, and in our series Choosing Love, we're discovering that love isn't a feeling, it's a choice.
And today Chip shows us how Jesus modeled perfect servanthood. No job too low, no recognition required, no thanks needed. you'll learn why humility grows through obedience, not introspection. And you'll discover the incredible rewards that come when you follow Christ's example of descending into greatness.
So grab your Bible and turn to Philippians chapter 2, verse 5. Here's Chip Ingram with today's message: Love serves. Notice humility flows from a specific mindset. Hear the command. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.
Who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. But he emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness. Admin. When it says he emptied himself for Bible students, the word is kenosis. Literally, it means he made himself nothing.
It's a sacrifice that's unbelievable. And what he's doing is He's saying, I was in the form, the very essence of God. I make myself nothing, never ceasing. In any way. Relieving himself of any deity, he's fully God, fully man.
And then notice what it says. Taking the form, the essential nature, not just of a servant. But of a bondservant. A bondservant in Jewish and in Roman culture had no rights. He's the guy that empties the trash.
He's the guy that has zero rights, no anything anywhere at any time. Could you just pause for a moment? Could you imagine I mean, when you think of how we cling to our rights. How come they didn't do that for me? Don't they know who I am?
Can you imagine? The creator of the universe. Taking the form of a bondservant, and it says he's made in the likeness of a man. The word likeness is our word schema. This is the word that means just the outward fashion of, the appearance of.
And he was fully human, except. He wasn't like all other men. There's no sin nature. Jesus, everything he did. He said, follow me, model this.
I can do nothing apart from him. His entire life was: I'm dependent on the Father and in the power of the Holy Spirit to live this life.
So you can follow behind me and you be dependent on the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit. And he did that because he loves you. He did that to rescue mankind. He descended into greatness. You want to have a mindset, want to embrace the mindset with regard to your position.
Right? We we all have one, we do, and prestige, you know? Like what makes me a somebody? Let me give you three characteristics of the mindset of a servant. You might jot these down.
And then think about how they might play out in your home. In your driving. At work Characteristic number one, no job is too low. Why? Because you're a servant.
There's trash on the ground, pick it up. Why? You're a servant. No recognition is required. No one needs to know who you are.
No one needs to say, oh wow, you're No recognition. You don't have to casually, like I certainly do at times, tell people that you know so-and-so or you work so-and-so. See, you don't have to bring recognition to yourself. No job too low, no recognition needed. No thanks required.
You know, when a servant would do his job, no one said, oh, wow, thanks so much. He's a servant. That's what he's supposed to do: serve all the rest of us. You see, it's a mindset. Can you imagine what it would be like to be married to someone who thought their job was to serve their mate?
Can you imagine a mom or dad who thought that the whole goal of their life was to serve their children in a way to help them be responsible and to grow up? Can you imagine what it'd be like to have a boss or a supervisor who saw himself not as the head and the requirement and got mad when people didn't get their deliverables? But I'm going to serve you and help you be successful. And maybe the best way to serve some of you is help you find another place. Because you struggle, this isn't what you were intended for.
But the mindset isn't you hack me off, get out of here. I want to serve you.
Well, those are the Three characteristics of a servant's mindset. Can you take any more? Let me give you three characteristics of what makes great servants. Number one, They observe needs. See, real servants realize I'm not here for people To serve me, and so they observe needs.
If you've ever been to a very good restaurant and the waiter or the waitress, do you ask for water? They're there. You ask for a second of this. I mean, they're watching your table and they observe needs. When you stand up and when you're here, do you just go and talk to someone you know?
Are you observing? I wonder what the needs are. I wonder how things are going here. I wonder if they need help in the children's ministry. I wonder if they need help over here.
Who might need servants have this mindset of, There might be some needs I can fulfill. Second, is they take initiative. You don't have to ask them. They just take initiative. Oh, wow, there's a need.
I'll fill it. I'll take care of that. I'll do that. And third, They don't draw attention to themselves.
Now That's pretty different, isn't it? That's what Jesus did.
Okay. And he loved deeply and better. And that's why he's the greatest human being. whoever lived because he was a human being. Foolie God.
But a human being. That's how he viewed position and prestige. Finally, we become truly great when we embrace great Christ's mindset toward productivity. Ask yourself, what did he really accomplish? Quite a bit, huh?
Being found in appearance as a man. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. even death on a cross. Underline the word humbled himself. Put a box around becoming obedient.
And then circle death. and circle on a cross. Jesus descended from The supreme Creator and ruler. to taking on human flesh. to being a servant.
to making his life a sacrifice. to dying for us. and then to die in the most humiliating way known to mankind.
Now, here's what you need to get, especially those with a sensitive conscience, which I really appreciate. The way to eliminate your pride is not to focus on how arrogant you are. It's not to walk out of here and go, you know, I think of myself and I'm really into position and yes, I think my possessions make me a someone, blah, blah, blah, blah. No, don't go there. When you try and get rid of pride out the window, it comes back in the door.
If you get it out the door, it'll come back in through the attic. You know how you can become a humble person? It's really, really easy. Obey. You obey your way to humility.
Because humility isn't some feeling. Humility is considering others more important than yourself.
So what do you do? You act on the truth that these people are actually more important than me. Therefore, my time will go toward helping others. My money is going to go toward helping others. And my talents will go toward helping others.
And more than some kind of feeling, you do what Jesus did, He acted on it. And by the way, just a little note, put a little star, he didn't feel like it. Do you remember the garden? Emotionally. Jesus didn't, you know, love is giving another person what they need the most when they deserve it.
The least at great personal cost. Jesus was not in the garden going, Father, from eternity past, we're going to save him. This is great. Holy Spirit, I want a high-five of you. I'm going to go to the cross.
We're going to do this. Oh Father, oh Father, if there be any way, not my will, but yours be done, but if there's a plan B, a plan C, I don't want to do this. I don't want to be separated from you. I don't want the cost. I don't want the pain.
I don't want to do this, nevertheless. Can I tell you something? When you don't feel like reading the Bible and read it, when you don't feel like praying and pray, when you don't feel like giving and give, when you give time, when you care, when you're tired and say, I don't feel like it, I don't feel like it. I don't think you're being a hypocrite. I think you're probably more pleasing to God.
than almost any other time in your life. It takes a lot more faith to obey when you don't feel like doing it. You are living in such a feel-oriented culture. I'm kind of tired. I don't feel like reading.
I'm kind of tired. I don't know if I can make it to the small group. I'm kind of tired. I'm so worn out. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
How did Jesus feel? He was beat within an inch of his life. They crushed thorns. into his skull. Love Serves.
I choose love. I choose to serve. And something supernatural happens when that occurs. Humility. grows by Obedience.
If you walk out these doors and go, I want to be more humble, I intend to be more humble, you will not be humble. You act your way into humility. Obedience is the pathway to humility. Humility is about considering others people more important than yourself. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
We'll hear more from Chip in just a moment. If today's message is speaking to your heart, don't keep it to yourself. Share this teaching with someone who needs to hear it by visiting livingonthege.org. While you're there, be sure to check out all of the other faith-building resources we have available, including teaching videos, blogs, and devotionals from Chip. It's all waiting for you at livingonthege.org.
Let's continue with Chip's message.
So let's do a quick test and then we're going to get to something very exciting like the really wonderful side of the rewards of humility. Here's the test. How other-centered are you?
Okay, get out your device or devices. And just scroll through the last two or three weeks and how many names and times. on your devices are about serving other people. And how many are about you? But that'll tell you.
Second is go home. Pull up your bank statement and a couple of credit cards. And look at where your money went. And ask yourself, how much of the money entrusted to you, because it's not yours and it's not mine. Went to expressing your love to God and to helping other people, and how of it went to you and to service your debt.
See, the reason Jesus talks so much about money is because it's at the core. It's the MRI. If you want to know where your heart's at, it's not how you sing a song. It's not how often you come to church. If you want to know where your heart's at, you know, it's like the old thing: just follow the money.
And so the reason he says and taught to them: look, the first 10%, just so you know that I own it and you don't, you write that check to me. But if you live on a bit of a budget and you decide how much is enough, then over and above that how much is enough, you begin to share and give and love. And then what he says is, as you keep descending into greatness, all these people's lives change and people get loved and people come to Christ and they experience the life of Christ. See, my money tells me. whether I'm humble or whether I'm about me.
And then I asked myself, what about my talent? But where's my talent going? I mean, my energy. Did you know in Christendom 50% of all the people that go to Bible-believing churches do not give anything of their time or their money. And I would love to say our church is a big exception.
It's not, it's exactly that same place. And by the way, if you look at our numbers, we don't need your money. I mean, we could do a lot more. But here's my challenge is You want to be a servant? Then serve.
Get your priorities in order. Get your time in order. You can't do anything I'm talking about unless God speaks to you and strengthens you. Your priorities will never get right until your finances get right. And if you think there's any ulterior motive, give it somewhere else.
But maturity. Joy. Power. Love demands humility that requires obedience. Just before you think, oh my lands.
I want to tell you something that makes all this worthwhile. Are you ready? The next and last point. Is we experience the reward of true greatness when we follow Christ's example of servanthood.
Now, remember I said everyone wants to be great? Are you ready? Okay, how great do you really want to be?
Okay. How great do you really want to be? Because if you are willing to take Your position, your possessions, your prestige, your power, and say, I'm a steward of that, and I'm going to use that humbly as God directs to serve and to love God and to love others. Here's the promise: Christ will exalt you. He always exalts those who practice humility.
In fact, notice here's the example from Jesus. For this reason, what reason? This descending into greatness. Also, God highly exalted him. Literally, it super-exalted him.
And he bestowed on him the name which is above every name. Why? So that at the name of Jesus. Every knee will bow. Where?
Of those who are in heaven, of those who are in earth, and those who are under earth. And that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ and put a box around Lord. The word is Yahweh. He's referring back to Isaiah 45, 23, where God Yahweh says, I am the one, and every knee will bow before me. If you want a passage, God the Father is Lord, Jesus is Lord, and notice the reason, for the glory of God.
You know, Mother Teresa didn't own a whole lot. And there's people that have built huge, huge things, but we remember Mother Teresa Y. She just loved people and she loved people that no one cared about. And God exalted her. As you humble yourself, as we as a church, like never before, humble ourselves.
By being obedient. God will exalt you. But what would it be worth? What would it be worth to have a deep, loving, connected family? deep, loving, connected friendships.
Be the person that changes the entire culture where you work or your neighborhood. See, God gave Jesus the greatest position. and the greatest name.
Now Here's the deal. We need to apply this very specifically, and I want to do it very soberly. For those of you who are here and you are a follower of Christ, you're absolutely certain that you are in God's family, you've trusted Christ. At a certain point in time, you were convicted of your sin and your lifestyle. You realized that you needed to be forgiven and saved by a holy God, and you extended the empty hands of faith and said, I turn from my past life and I asked Jesus to come into my life and forgive me for my sin.
I believe you died in my place and rose from the dead. If you're one of those people, here's the question. Your knee is going to bow. And you are going to confess him as Lord. My question is: is he Lord today?
If you have never said, I'm all in, And saying, whatever that means, my geography, my family, my money, my dreams. I may be a little scared. In fact, if you're not a little scared, you don't know what I'm talking about. But I'm going to trust God and I'm going to stand up. And I'm going to publicly declare He is my Lord.
He will call the shots from this moment on. And if you've never done that, I'll ask you to stand. And I will tell you, you experience power.
some difficulty and some joy and reward that you've never experienced. And you will find yourself having to get into God's word because he'll begin using your life. There's another group of you that you're here and you're exploring, and you wouldn't claim necessarily to be a Christian, or you're not really sure if you are in the family or out of the family. You're a good person, a moral person, you're visiting a church. But if you died today, you are not absolutely certain that you would spend eternity with Christ.
Every person is going to bow the knee and you will profess. Jesus is Lord. Option A is that if you haven't done that and you bow the knee and you humble your heart and you say, I need you, God, will you forgive me? I want to turn from sin. I ask you to come into my life and I want to follow you.
Option B. As you say, well, no, not ready to do that. Maybe later. I don't want anyone telling me what to do. I'm not sure about this God stuff.
If that's good for you guys, fine. I'm going to do my own thing. The day will come when you will bow your knee. And instead of joy looking at your Savior, in absolute dismay and distress, you'll go, oh. I remember when I was in that church and I heard God's voice, and I may never hear it again like this.
I so wish I could go back. But you can't. And he brought you into this room on this day to forgive your sins and give you a new life. God wants you to be great. He wants you to be great.
He just wants you to descend into greatness. The acid test of greatnesses. It's love. This is about being loving people. The road to greatness, have you got this word down now?
It's Humility. The road to greatness is considering others more important than yourself. And finally, the opportunity for greatness. It's serving. It's serving in the church.
It's serving at home. It's saying, I'm a servant. No job is too low. I'm a servant. I'm available.
I'm a servant. I don't need recognition. I want to be a part of the change agent. I'm not someone who comes and sits and observes and intellectually believes the things that everyone intellectually believes. I'm a servant.
God just showed me where to plug in. This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and we're in our series Choosing Love. Today Chip revealed that humility isn't something you feel your way into, you obey your way into it. Chip has one more powerful challenge to share in just a moment. If you're serious about transforming your relationships, you need to get your hands on Chip's newest book, I Choose Love.
This book tackles the hard questions. How other-centered are you really? Where does your time, money, and energy actually go? Chip doesn't let you off easy. He challenges you to look at the data on your devices, review your calendar, and follow the money to see where your heart truly is.
But I choose love doesn't just convict you, it equips you. You'll discover practical ways to serve without seeking recognition. If you want to descend into true greatness through servanthood, order iChooseLove Today at livingonthege.org. As a non-profit ministry, each one of these programs depends on listeners who invest in biblical teaching that changes lives. When you give to Living on the Edge, you're multiplying this message of transformative love.
Will you partner with us today? Give today by going online to livingontheedge.org or write to LivingOnthege, P.O. Box 3007, Atlanta, Georgia, 30024. You can also call 888-333-6003. Don't miss the Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast, a new feature on the Living on the Edge podcast.
Every sermon, complete and unedited, now available alongside our daily broadcasts. Subscribe to the Living on the Edge podcast to day.
Well, now here's Chip with one final thought. Before we go any farther today, I want to bring you back to that very important option A and option B I talked about. at the close of the program. Because God has said it will happen. Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and option A is that people will do that willfully.
joyfully. That they will recognize that God the Son, who made all that there is, who came and died in your place and my place for the sins of the whole world. who rose from the dead, who is seated at the right hand of the Father, is opening his arms and saying, Come unto me, Let me love you and forgive you. I came that you might have life and have it abundantly. Option B is a for those who say, I don't want that.
I'll control my life. No one's going to tell me what to do. And we don't always say it that harshly.
Sometimes we say it like, well, I'll get around to the God thing later. Or, you know, I think that's probably true, but I'm going to do some stuff that I think's really fun right now and maybe later. Or maybe you're one of those people that are literally shaking your fist in the face of God and saying, No one and nothing is going to rule over me, because you have a warped view of God or had a bad religious experience. We don't talk about this much in our day, but I want you to know there is a reality of eternity. And God sent the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And whoever believes in him. has eternal life. The one that has the Son has life. The one that does not have the Son of God does not have life. There are two endings.
a group of people that God will say to them, Your will be done. and you will be separated from him for ever and ever and ever. And there's a group that will say to God, Your will be done. Forgive me, I bow my knee. and I do it voluntarily.
I don't know where you're at, but here's my prayer, that at this day, on this moment, you would be an Option A person. and you would surrender your heart and your life at this very minute, and say, Lord Jesus, forgive me. Come into my life. I acknowledge you as the Lord, the Savior, the Creator of the world, and I want to follow you. I believe you died in my place.
You rose from the dead. I receive you as my Savior. Make me your son. Make me your daughter. And then I want to tell you to get on your phone and text the best Christian you know and tell em what you just did.
and then go to livingontheedge.org. That's livingontheedge.org. It's very easy to find and we have some resources to help you in your brand new life.
Now find a good church this weekend that teaches the Bible. and get on the journey. Only God can change a life. But what's your part in the process? I'm Dave Druy.
Join us tomorrow as we discover the answer on Living on the Edge. Uh Today's program is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge. Uh
