Let each of you look, not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
– Philippians 2:4
What a simple verse followed by one of the most majestic passages in all of the Bible. Our Lord, being in very nature, God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. He made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness. So we see this picture of the love, the grace, the self-sacrifice of Jesus, and it follows on this exhortation, really a variety of practical exhortations in the beginning of Philippians 2, but specifically here in verse 4, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others,” because this is who Jesus is. This is what Jesus has done for us. He’s looked to our interests.
Philippians 2:4 Calls Us to Serve as Jesus Served
Just soak that in for a second, how Jesus looks to your interests, that Jesus gave his life for your salvation and not just in the past, looked to your interests. He, today, lives to intercede for you, lives to provide you and me with everything we need. Even now, he is looking to our interests. So with the Spirit of Jesus inside of us, what does it look like for you and I today to look not only to our own interests but also to the interests of others?
That’ll change your perspective on your day. Just look at the people you interact with today, and as you see them, think, “What are their interests? What is good for them? What would be pleasing to them?” Obviously, in ways that accord with God’s word, and to say, “I want to look out for them today. I want to serve them today. I want my posture toward others to be one of looking out for others’ interests.”
Philippians 2:4 Challenges Us to Live Selfless Lives
And can we just confess the obvious? This is not natural to us. We naturally look out for ourselves. What is natural to us is to make decisions, to have thoughts, desires about what is best for us, and so we pray, God, we want Philippians 2:4 to mark our lives. Philippians 2:5, “Have this mind among yourselves,” which is yours in Christ Jesus. God, we pray for this mind, for this attitude, for this heart, for this desire to look out for others’ interests, even above our own. Jesus, we praise you for looking out for our interests. We praise you for leaving your throne and glory, and coming to us, and living among us, and dying for us, and rising from the grave, ascending into heaven, sending your Spirit, and today, for how you are looking out for our interests.
All glory be to your name, Jesus, God, for looking to our interests. So, God, we pray that by the power of your Spirit in us, the Spirit of Jesus, help us today to look not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others. God, help us to love our neighbors as ourselves, to love the people around us, sacrificially, and generously, and carefully. Help us to be intentional about seeing the interests of others, and serving them as you serve us. Oh, God, we pray that Philippians 2:4 would mark our relationships with our family members, our friends, with brothers and sisters in Christ, in your church, and with people who are apart from Christ, God, that you’d help us to look to their interests. What would be best for them?
Prayer for the Bantu Somali People
God, help us to share the gospel with them, to be so concerned about their eternal salvation that we would share the gospel with somebody today, and, God, for the Bantu Somali people, a million of them, who are facing discrimination in Somalia. Lord, we pray you would raise up your church to go to the Bantu Somali people, God, that you would help us to look to their interests. God, we pray for this kind of spirit in your church when it comes to unreached people in the world.
God, help us to look to their interests, and live to see the gospel spread to them, knowing Philippians 2:9–11, that one day every knee is going to bow from every nation on the earth, and heaven on earth, and under the earth, and confess that Jesus is Lord. We know that the greatest need of every person around us and every person in the world is to receive and trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior. So, God, we pray, help us to live for others’ interests right around us, and all around the world that they might know, and enjoy you and your love for them. God, we pray, all of us, according to your word, and Philippians 2:4 in Jesus’s name. Help us to look not only to our own interests but to the interests of others. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
