The Flog – The Fabry Log

We spent the program yesterday talking about marriage. Bob Moeller joined us and there were some heart-wrenching calls and emails from women (mostly) who were at the end of their proverbial ropes with their husbands. I know it’s not just women who are hurting. Many men have wayward wives as well.

I’d like to go back to verse 3 again and fit this into my relationships again. I think there’s something God wants to bore into our souls about this and I’m not ready to leave it.

This evening I had a disagreement with my wife and it stemmed from my lack of communication. The very thing we were talking about during the program. My wife wanted me to wait for her before going for a walk, or at least communicate where I was going. This happens to me a lot. I like to blame it on the fact that I’m preoccupied. I’m working on a book. My right brain is taking over. I'm busy.

It’s easy to WANT to do everything from pure motives, being considerate of others, and thinking not just about yourself but putting others’ needs before your own. It’s another thing to accomplish that.

Did you have any situations that came up yesterday where you had the opportunity to put Philippians 2:3 into practice?

How did you do? Did you fail, succeed, or was it a mixture?

Read Philippians 2:1-11 again. Focus again on verse three.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”

What is the “selfish ambition” you struggle with the most? Some interpret this only as the person who wants to be “up front,” who has to have the lead part in the choir. But there are other ways selfish ambition rears its ugly head. More subtle ways. And they manifest themselves relationally.

What do you think would happen if everyone were able to follow these verses and actually put them into practice? What would happen to marriages? Families? Churches? Classrooms? How would politics be turned upside down?

I’m convinced God wants to transform our relationships, and he’s doing that in small, incremental ways. Give God your ambition today. Tell him what you think would fulfill your life and give you purpose.

Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Could this be the opposite of “selfish ambition?” Could delighting in God and what he desires (which will provide our ultimate fulfillment) be the antidote to our own selfish ambition? When we delight in Him, this changes our perspective not only on ourselves, but also on all the relationships around us.

Prayer: Ask God to reveal any selfish ambition in your life and supplant that with a delight in Him. Write this prayer out to God.