Quote of the Day - Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. (Paul)

I would like to focus a little bit on the final words of this Bible verse. It was written by Paul in his letter to the Philippians. In general, this is a letter containing a whole lot of fantastic wisdom for building and living in a community, and so much more in addition to that.

But, think about what he is saying here... that we should consider the people around us to be better than ourselves. What is that all about? Isn't that the complete opposite of what we normally do? We like to walk around and the more we can speak badly about others, the better we feel? If we see one ugly person, then it feels good, because it makes us feel more beautiful. When we see someone behaving badly, it gives us an extra star above our heads, as we would never do something like that.

We always compare ourselves with others, often with the goal of making us feel better, and proving that we are more than good enough.

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

Paul is telling us to start looking at the people around us in a different way. We should look at them as people better than ourselves. We should look at them as people more important than we are. Instead of looking down on them, we should look at them with adoration, finding their special skills and trying to encourage them even more!

Isn't that a different way of looking at the people around us?