The Mind of Christ!

The "mind" of Christ means the "attitude" Christ exhibited. "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5). After all, outlook determines outcome. If the outlook is selfish, the actions will be devisive and destructive. James says the same thing (James 4:1-10).

This text in Philippians take us to eternity past. "Form of God" has nothing to do with shape or size. God is Spirit (John 4:24), and as such is not to be thought of in human terms. When the Bible refers to "the eyes of the Lord" or "the hand of the Lord," it is not claiming that God has a human shape. Rather, it is using human terms to describe divine attributes (the characteristics of God) and activities. The word "form" means "the outward expression of the inward nature." This means that in eternity past, Jesus Christ was God. In fact, Paul states that He was "equal with God."(Other verses such as John 1:1-4; Colossians 1:15; and Hebrews 1:1-3 also state that Jesus Christ is God)

Certainly as God, Jesus Christ did not need anything! He had all the glory, and praise of heaven. With the Father and the Spirit, He reigned over the universe. But Philippians 2:6 states an amazing fact: He did not consider His equality with God as "something selfishly to be held on to." Jesus did not think of Himself; He thought of others. His outlook (or attitude) was that of unselfish concern for others. This is "the mind of Christ," an attitude that says, "I cannot keep my privileges for myself, I must use them for others; and to do this, I will gladly lay them aside and pay whatever price is necessary."

We expect unsaved people to be selfish and grasping, but we do not expect this of Christians, who have experienced the love of Christ and the fellowship of the Spirit (Philippians 2:1-2). More than twenty times in the New Testament, God instructs us how to live with "one another." We are to prefer one another (Romans 12:10), edify one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11), and bear each other's burdens (Galatians 6:2). We should not judge one another (Romans 14:13) but rather admonish one another (Romans 15:14). "Others" is the key word in the vocabulary of the Christian who exercises the submissive mind.