Think Like Jesus Thought

A Personal Paraphrase of Philippians 1-2 1

My dear friends in Philippi, every time I think of you, I smile. From the moment you first heard the gospel, you and I have been partners in ministry together. This brings me more joy than you will ever know. I’m especially grateful for the many ways I see God’s grace working both in you and through you, and I know this work won’t stop until God has finished what he started. (Phil. 1:3-6). 

My prayer is that you will keep growing, becoming more and more like Jesus. Not just in moral behavior and spiritual disciplines, but especially in your expression of self-giving love. I long for you to have the same mindset that Jesus had, so that laying down your lives for others becomes your most distinctive characteristic. This is what the gospel is really all about: growing in self-giving love. As you mature in the wisdom of love you will be increasingly pure and blameless, bringing more and more glory to God. (Phil. 1:9-11). 

I want you to live like the citizens of the Kingdom of God that you actually are! This means that my primary concern is not so much for your moral behavior or your personal comfort and well-being. Rather, my prayer is that you will have the very same mentality that Jesus had. Yes, I pray that your attitudes and your lifestyle will be in sync with the gospel you profess. Only then will you be worthy to be called followers of Jesus. As you carry out your ministry there in Philippi, I pray that the entire church family will be like-minded, completely unified in the way you live out the gospel. What I mean is that I want you to think like Jesus thought. This drives our enemies crazy! When we are no longer afraid of them or silenced by their threats, our opponents know they have already been defeated. Yes, when we live like Jesus, we intimidate them more than they intimidate us! You see, God has given you the privilege not only to believe in Jesus, but to suffer for him! Isn’t that great? This is how the ministry of the gospel really begins to change the world. Dear brothers, it gives me great comfort to know that we are in this fight together. (Phil. 1:27-30).   

So, if you share my belief that Jesus Christ is alive and well, that love is what the world needs more than anything else, and that we are an unstoppable force through the Spirit that dwells within us, then, if you really want to make me happy, let your greatest aim in life be to think like Jesus thought and to love like Jesus loved. Yes, be single-minded and unified in your desire to imitate his example. Don’t be motivated by self-interest, self-promotion, or a desire to improve your image. Rather, live as if the needs of other people really were more important than your own! (Phil. 2:1-4).

Let me put it like this: I want you to have the same mindset that Jesus had. I want his perspective and his attitudes to be the controlling center of your life. We sing about this in our worship services on Sunday. Don’t you remember the words? 

Although he was God

He didn’t demand his rights

Or cling to his titles.

He gave it all up,

Renouncing his status,  

Denying himself.

So that he could come as a slave

Obeying his Father in every dimension

To die on a cross – for others.

That’s why God has highly exalted him

Above everyone else

And given him the most beautiful name:

Jesus.

A name that is greater, yes very much greater,

Than every other name in history.

At the sound of his name, 

Everyone will bow in submission,

In heaven, in earth, and even in hell;

And every tongue in all of the universe

Will acknowledge that Jesus is Lord! (Phil. 2:5-11).

So, dear brothers and sisters, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to think like Jesus thought. Your lives are to be characterized by self-denying, status-renouncing, other-oriented love. But here’s the deal: you can’t do this in your own strength! That’s why God has put his sanctifying Spirit within you, making it possible for you to do what you can’t. First of all, his Spirit causes you to want to think like Jesus. Then his Spirit actually enables you to become what you desire. So your job, my dear friends, is to work out what God has worked in. (Phil. 2:12-13).  

1 This Holy Week, as we reflect on what Jesus did in laying down his life for others, I want to meditate on Philippians 1-2. For Paul, the cross of Christ was more than an event in history that makes salvation possible. It is a pattern for us to follow. Our lives are to be modeled after his. Like Jesus, we have the privilege of renouncing status, denying self, and laying down our lives for others. If my paraphrase causes you to examine the biblical text more carefully, I will have achieved my primary purpose. 

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