Superlative Humility
Philippians 2:3 – “Do nothing out of –but, instead—”
“Superlative humility” means that I push the limits of humility until I hit extremes of grace and Divine strength.
Jesus did, and He broke through to His purpose. He pushed humility to the extreme
Do nothing out of “eritheia” or “kenodoxia“
“working for hire” with subsequent meanings of “ambition that gets what’s it is after no matter what it costs others, so humility alters values in a way that produces sacrifices to what you wish to gain for yourself because you are seeking what is good for the group of believers to which you are assigned.
“pride without a basis for glory,” or delusional pride with subsequent meanings of “proud for no good reason” or “proud at the expense of reality.” This pride produces false entitlement, equality, and expectations.
Paul is emphatic. He does not suggest doing this mostly or some of the time or work this into your schedule at times. Do nothing by these motivations. Zilch. Nada. Zero. None.
Then, he contrasts these two terms with the common word for humility.
tapeinophrosune – knowing self as God sees me, “I am what I am by God’s grace.” Jesus measured Himself by comparing Himself to His Father, emptied Himself of what was rightfully His, and became what He must be to fulfill His purpose.
this word means “gaining the value of oneself from a revelation from the Lord.” Subsequent meanings have to do with maintaining an accurate estimate of self-based solely upon how God sees us. This is the ultimate “identity from Christ” thinking that blows massive holes in deception and delusion. From that related terms speak of living in complete dependency upon God.
Then, the behavior from this healthy identity from Christ enables us to properly esteem others.
This term means “leading the way” with this meaning coming under the subsequent idea of “this habit of thinking leading the way.”
So, the idea is “surpassing value” or “superior consideration” where the word at its base root means “those superior to others in rank, position, and influence.”
Putting all this together, we read a meaning for humility as a working definition, marked by behavior based upon habits of thinking, moving down the line from demanding to be the considered first, served first, so we can gain something over or from others as our disposable servants or consumables.
The ultimate “what’s in this for me?” motivation comes from narcissistic pride.
1. It seeks what it can gain for itself, or it moves on to a place and people where this becomes possible.
2. It gains what it wants at the expense of others and the general corporate health or purpose.
3. It does so because of an elevated sense of personal value based upon delusion and deception, the pride of something that is not real, or pride based upon no good reason.
4. It provides itself a justification for higher value instead of the position given by God.
Humility never encourages irresponsibility. If you are a leader with a function, humility doesn’t say, “I’m an apostle, but I’m going to allow someone else whom Jesus didn’t call to be one to lead because I’m humble.”
Jesus is perfect humility. He never hesitated to see Himself as His Father sees Him. “Full of grace and truth” speaks to His humility directly. Grace comes to the humble, so He had perfect, ultimate grace flow. Truth is the basis of humility, and He lived in perfect oneness with His Father’s assessment of His value, position, authority, and assignment.
