Think of someone who is dear to you – someone you love and care for very much. I’m not saying this is someone of the opposite sex like your boyfriend or girlfriend. This is someone who holds a special place in your heart. This could be a grandparent, parent, sibling, or friend, anyone close to you. What makes them so dear to you?
Part of it is an investment you have made in their lives. For months and years you have spent time with them and made being around them a real priority in your life.
In Philippians 1:1-11, Paul talks and models exactly what our relationships with others should look like.
Read Philippians 1:1-11
Paul models true relationships with others in 3 ways:
1. Thanks God for them and the blessing they are to him (v. 3)
- The first thing he does after he introduces himself (Remember, this is a letter), is thank God for them and says what a blessing they are to him.
- What’s the truth in that? The truth in that is that he lets them know exactly how he feels about them. He lets them know how important they are to him and that he is thankful they are his friends.
- Do you let the people close to you know that?
- This is particularly convicting to me. In all my friendship or relationships with others, I rarely express to them how thankful I am to be in a relationship with them. It is more than just saying, “I love you”. It is saying how much you appreciate who they are and what they mean to you.
- What is stopping you from doing that today?
2. Prays for them (v. 4)
- Do you pray for those close to you?
- Do you ask people to pray for you?
- I’m not talking about just the simple, “pray for me” prayers or “pray for me as I take this test”. Those are good and all, but so generic, so superficial
- Why would we ask someone to pray for us? (Let students answer)
- We want to pray for us because the situation we are in is too tough for us to handle on our own. We need prayer so that God can come into our situation and give us wisdom and help.
- By having someone pray for you, you are also opening up your life and being vulnerable – you are allowing others to know you deeper.
- I have a friend the other day who asked me to pray for him. He was really challenging himself to overcome some struggles and asked me to pray for him about it. His hope was that God could help him through this time. So, what did I do? I made fun of him. OF COURSE NOT! I prayed for him and was encouraged to do the same.
- Prayer can lead to so many blessings – are you praying for those close to you? Are you allowing others to pray for you?
3. Challenges them to keep growing in their knowlede and understanding of God (v. 9-11)
- How often do we challenge others to grow in Christ?
- So many of us here hang out with each other outside of Church. I wonder, however, how many times Christ is brought up between you all. I’m sure boys, girls, school, sports, and many other things are brought up countless times.
- But Christ, He is like a buzz kill, right? Anytime you mention Him, it just ruins conversations, right? No – it shouldn’t be that way. What’s the worst thing that can happen if someone challenges you in Christ? Let me share a recent story with you:
- I was talking to my friend Will the other day. We were talking about football and other random stuff when all of a sudden, he pulls the Christ card on me – dang him! He actually had the gull to ask me if I had listened to this sermon tape/mp3 file he sent me. I told him I had not and he said to me something like, why wouldn’t you. That, my friends, was a challenge to me. So, what did I do. That night, after the kids had gone to bed, I stayed up to listen to this tape. I took notes and you know what happened? I was challenged and encourage to love Christ and my family because of it.
- Who benefited from that? My family and I
- Would I have listened to it if I had not been challenged by Will. Maybe, but considering that he gave it to me over a month and half ago, it probably would have been a while before I would have listened to it.
Challenge
So, what am I saying here? Are you following in Paul’s model and are you surrounding yourself with people who are following in Paul’s model? It is just as important to surround yourself with others that are following Christ as it is that you are. If you are following Christ and all you do is surround yourselves with others, too often – I’ve seen it a million times – we become more like them than they become more like us. We need to have that balance so people can be spurring us on towards Christ.
This week, ask yourself - where do I fall short of Paul's model. Then, ask yourself what can you do this week - what is 1 goal you can set - that can get you closer to this model?
Share your goal with a friend so that you can be held accountable - maybe your goal will spur others on towards growing closer to Christ.
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