"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross. 9Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:3-11
This week as we celebrate the incarnation it is a good time to remember that for God to come among us and take on human form was an act of humility. Beginning in his birth he was modeling key aspects of leadership. No virtue is more critical to our ability to lead than humility, and yet the postion of leadership always carries with it a vulnerability to a loss of that essential virtue. Being a "servant leader" is a means of maintaining humility in leadership. As leaders seeking to cultivate and/or maintain humility we should regularly put ourselves in positions to do simple acts of service that go beyond what we are "expected" to do. It never hurts the "Senior Pastor" to clean a bathroom, empty the trash, or set up chairs. Not only do acts of service keep us humble, they remind those we are leading that we never ask people to do what we aren't willing to do ourselves. From his humble birth that we celebrate on Christmas, to his sacrificial death that we remember at the Christmas Eve table, Jesus modeled for us servant leadership and the humility that position requires.
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