Contemplative Bible Reading

⁶ Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
⁷ Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
⁸ he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

We seem to be big on privileges. And many of those privileges have been rightly earned. We seem to be big on things like,

I have more fill-in-the-blank than you.

Therefore, I deserve more fill-in-the-blank than you.

ooops, look at Jesus Christ, notably verse 7:

he gave up his privileges

Oh, uh, well uh, I mean, hem and haw, and stutter and look at the ground while mumbling. I know Jesus wants me to follow in His footsteps, but does that include, well, you know?

Yes, it does. It means that I give up my privileges, even those I have “earned.”