The gift of unity can result from serving each other.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.Philippians 2:3

“Do you have a few items you’d like me to wash?” I asked a visitor to our home in London. His face lit up, and as his daughter walked by, he said, “Get your dirty clothes—Amy’s doing our laundry!” I smiled, realizing that my offer had been extended from a few items to a few loads.

Later as I hung clothes outside on the line, a phrase from my morning’s Bible reading floated through my mind: “In humility value others above yourselves” (Phil. 2:3). I had been reading Paul’s letter to the people of Philippi, in which he exhorts them to live worthy of Christ’s calling through serving and being united with others. They were facing persecution, but Paul wanted them to be of one mind. He knew that their unity, birthed through their union with Christ and expressed through serving each other, would enable them to keep strong in their faith.

We might claim to love others without selfish ambition or vain conceit, but the true state of our hearts isn’t revealed until we put our love into action. Though I felt tempted to grumble, I knew that as a follower of Christ, my call was to put my love for my friends into practice—with a clean heart.

May we find ways to serve our family, friends, and neighbors for God’s glory.

Read Luke 22:22–27 and consider how you can pattern yourself after Jesus the servant, looking especially at the words, “But I am among you as one who serves.”

彼此服事能带来合一。

不要自私自利，也不要贪图虚荣，只要谦卑，看别人比自己强。-腓立比书2章3节，-新译本

友人到伦敦游玩，在我家暂住。我问他：“有衣服要洗吗？我这桶衣服还可以加几件。”他开心地对从房间出来的女儿说：“把脏衣服拿出来，艾梅要帮咱们洗衣服！”我不禁苦笑，知道我要洗的衣物，已经从几件变成几桶了。

过后当我在外面晾衣服时，早晨读到的经文浮现脑海：“只要谦卑，看别人比自己强”（腓立比书2章3节，新译本）。我那阵子正在读腓立比书，看到保罗勉励门徒，要彼此服事和连结，好让他们行事为人与基督的呼召相称。即使那时门徒正面对逼迫，但保罗仍要他们同心。保罗知道门徒与基督联合，以及藉着彼此服事所表现出来的合一，能使他们坚守信仰。

我们可以声称自己爱人没有私心，也没有虚荣心，但唯有当我们将爱付诸行动，才能显明我们的内心有爱。虽然我想抱怨这位朋友的做法，但我知道身为基督的跟随者，祂要我以一颗单纯的心，对朋友付出关爱。

愿我们能找到合适的方式，去服事我们的家人、朋友和邻居，以彰显上帝的荣耀。

阅读路加福音22章22-27节，
思想如何效法耶稣的榜样服事众人，特别留意耶稣说：
“我在你们中间如同服事人的。”

Philippians 1:27-2:4New International Version (NIV)

27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit,[a]striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy completeby being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

整理：于姊妹