Putting Yourself Last – October 11, 2024

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Ephesians 5:21

Putting Yourself Last

You won’t get very far in life putting yourself last. There are not many CEOs who have a history of making sure their coworkers receive all the attention. The star athlete probably didn’t spend most of their practice time making sure others got enough reps. World-famous artists spend more time working on their own craft than helping others develop their skills.

Our God doesn’t work like the world works, and his people don’t work like the world works. God tells his people to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Because we know it is what Jesus wants, we submit to the wants and needs of other Christians in our lives.

God doesn’t give us this command to submit to one another because he wants us to underachieve or to have lives where we are walked on. Instead, God gave us this command because loving Christ means knowing what Christ does with those who humble themselves and submit to others.

This command is given to us by the God who says the first will be last and the last will be first. He is the same God who put Joseph in a position over all of Egypt, even though he once submitted as a slave. He is the God who elevated David to king, even as David submitted to wicked Saul. It is the God who willfully submitted himself even to death on a cross that we might be lifted up.

God does not work like the world works, and so we don’t work like the world works. God accomplishes so much of his work and gives so many of his blessings as we submit to one another. Not making demands or looking out for ourselves but by putting others’ needs in front of our own and making their will our priority, we submit ourselves to one another. All of this is out of reverence for Christ and in response to what he was willing to submit to in order to save us.

Prayer:
Mighty God, help me to submit to others out of reverence for Christ. Amen.