Esteem Others Better
Scripture: Philippians 2:3Devotional Series: Before Honor, Humility
Teaching: Before Honor...Humility pt. 1 (WED 2023-09-20) by Pastor Star R Scott
Another one of my favorite sayings here, “Pride must die in you, or nothing from heaven can live in you.” We’re the temple of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost does not desire living in a temple that’s being overrun by self-reliance, by the lust of all that’s in the world. The Holy Spirit is grieved by hearts that are not seeking first the kingdom of God and relying on Him for every aspect of our lives. Your will’s got to die. Your will’s got to die. Your will’s got to die. Your independent spirit has to die. Your self-reliance has to die; amen? And it has to die daily. The days that go by that he’s not crucified; he’s multiplied in strength. It begins to be a wrong habit in your life. It’s by reason of use, the Scripture says. So our obedience is a conscious decision each day: “Father, I thank You for the privilege of serving in Your kingdom. Not my will, Your will be done. Father, I thank You for Your call and gifting in my life and that I’ve been baptized into the body of Christ and gifted to edify this body, to glorify You. Let men see the good works and glorify You, Father.” That humility that causes availability.
In these last years—I’ve shared some in my testimony with you, but in these last years, as I’ve looked at where I was in my life and some of the opportunities that we had overseas and in different areas, and I was just like, “I just don’t want to do that.” And in prayer a number of months back, the Lord spoke to me very clearly about this very aspect. And He said, “Look, I can get along without you very nicely. I’ll take you out of here and, in My kingdom, it won’t even be a blip on the radar.” We never come to that place—and I referenced it the other day, I believe—to where we think that what we have done for God merits us, now, to make decisions on how we want to serve now. It’s funny—I talk to people quite often, and at my age now, people will often, as we’re carrying on conversation, often ask me, “Are you retired?” And my response is usually, “No, I’m not re‑tired; I’m just tired. But I’m in an occupation where you can’t retire. You just go till you drop.” “Really?” “Yeah, I’m a servant in the house of God. I’ve been separated to God. His anointing is on me. I’m dedicated to this service as long as I live.” And it’s interesting, the conversation, because most of the natural mindset is, “Man, you get to work up to this time, and now your life’s your own.” As if their life wasn’t their own before. Now, all you do is you stop doing what your boss said, and you’re going home and doing the honey-do list. So, you’re still not free. But that true ability to rest in God and in His mercy to us.
I’m looking to see if I can find this one other statement. Here’s one here: “God can do nothing for me as long as I am sufficient for myself.” So, these are some of the things that help us to understand that we can never be humble and serve one another until we’re serving God properly. If I’m preferring self over God, I’m surely going to prefer myself over you; amen? And yet we see, then, these admonitions that relate to the body of Christ. Philippians, Chapter 2, verse 3 says, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” In lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than themselves.
In these last years—I’ve shared some in my testimony with you, but in these last years, as I’ve looked at where I was in my life and some of the opportunities that we had overseas and in different areas, and I was just like, “I just don’t want to do that.” And in prayer a number of months back, the Lord spoke to me very clearly about this very aspect. And He said, “Look, I can get along without you very nicely. I’ll take you out of here and, in My kingdom, it won’t even be a blip on the radar.” We never come to that place—and I referenced it the other day, I believe—to where we think that what we have done for God merits us, now, to make decisions on how we want to serve now. It’s funny—I talk to people quite often, and at my age now, people will often, as we’re carrying on conversation, often ask me, “Are you retired?” And my response is usually, “No, I’m not re‑tired; I’m just tired. But I’m in an occupation where you can’t retire. You just go till you drop.” “Really?” “Yeah, I’m a servant in the house of God. I’ve been separated to God. His anointing is on me. I’m dedicated to this service as long as I live.” And it’s interesting, the conversation, because most of the natural mindset is, “Man, you get to work up to this time, and now your life’s your own.” As if their life wasn’t their own before. Now, all you do is you stop doing what your boss said, and you’re going home and doing the honey-do list. So, you’re still not free. But that true ability to rest in God and in His mercy to us.
I’m looking to see if I can find this one other statement. Here’s one here: “God can do nothing for me as long as I am sufficient for myself.” So, these are some of the things that help us to understand that we can never be humble and serve one another until we’re serving God properly. If I’m preferring self over God, I’m surely going to prefer myself over you; amen? And yet we see, then, these admonitions that relate to the body of Christ. Philippians, Chapter 2, verse 3 says, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” In lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than themselves.