"Don�t be selfish; don�t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves." (Philippians 2:3 NLT) .
Nugget 4: Think of others as better than yourself
O boy! That's a hard one. It seems like each nugget is purposely designed to be more difficult than the previous one. First it was don't be selfish. We could beat our chest and say of course, no christian should do that. We can even examine ourselves and score ourselves favourably. "I am not selfish. I don't seek my own interests alone". These are some words that might be ringing in our heart right now. Then it says to us, "Don't try to impress others". Thirdly, it says, "Be humble". And to complete the home run, it says, " Think of others as better than yourself". How do you even do that!
Nobody wants to come second. Everyone wants to be the best, the first and the greatest. In school, business, ministry, etc, we all want to be better than everyone else. But that is a wrong drive, and purpose. If your motivation is to be better than others, you end up in bitterness, envy, and avarice. You will be consumed by a competitive spirit. You will work to tear others down so that you can remain on top! You will live in hatred and secret despise of other people's success.
So God says don't compete. Give up on every form of competition and focus on yourself. Think of others as already better than yourself. This pattern of thought frees you and makes it easy to be humble. Question is can you truly think of others as better than you in spite of their age, level, accomplishment, bank account balance, etc. You should only strive to be a better version of yourself.