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Philippians 2:3-4

腓立比书 2:3-4

The Passage

doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself; each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.

In the other language

凡事不可结党，不可贪图虚浮的荣耀；只要存心谦卑，各人看别人比自己强。各人不要单顾自己的事，也要顾别人的事。

Theme

Consider others

Bring a question to this passage

Many readers arrive here from a real question. These are reflections for how this passage speaks to the questions people bring most often — not an answer about what will happen, but an invitation to sit with it slowly.

How do I face this season of pressure at work?

Rivalry can make a demanding workplace feel even narrower: someone else’s success becomes your threat, and every mistake becomes something to hide. Paul asks for another posture, one shaped by humility and attention to others. He does not give instructions for handling workplace pressure, but he speaks directly to how you might treat people within it. Notice that he says to look not just to your own concerns, but also to theirs. Your needs are not erased. You are invited to make room for another person’s needs without turning the day into a contest. Whose concerns could you hear more fully without dismissing your own?

Carry thisHumility makes room for others without erasing your needs.

Other passages for this questionGenesis 1:26-28 · Isaiah 41:10 · 1 Corinthians 7:3-4

I want to learn to love better in this relationship.

Love can become a contest without your noticing: whose needs matter more, who has given more, who gets the last word. This passage invites you out of rivalry and into attention. Humility here is not pretending you have no needs; the words say to look not just to your own concerns, but also to another's. You can take the other person's experience seriously without making yourself disappear. Learning to love better may begin with listening before defending, or asking about a burden you have overlooked. What if you brought both your own needs and the other person's concerns before God, without making them compete?

Carry thisYour needs and another's can both receive your attention.

Other passages for this questionGenesis 1:26-28 · Isaiah 41:10 · 1 Corinthians 7:3-4

What do I need to let go of in the coming weeks?

The coming weeks may feel lighter if you no longer have to prove that you matter more than someone else. This passage does not identify exactly what you need to release, but it invites you to examine rivalry, conceit, and the habit of seeing only your own concerns. Humility need not mean dismissing your needs; it can mean making room for another person’s needs alongside them. As you sit with God, you might notice where comparison turns a conversation, a responsibility, or a relationship into a contest you feel compelled to win. Rivalry can make ordinary moments into competitions; what need to come out ahead could you begin to release?

Carry thisYour needs matter, and they are not the only ones.

Other passages for this questionGenesis 1:26-28 · Isaiah 41:10 · 1 Corinthians 7:3-4

How can I find stillness in a busy life?

This passage does not speak directly about finding stillness, but it names rivalry and conceit, two things that can keep your inner life restless. Even when your calendar pauses, you may still be measuring yourself against others or rehearsing how you appear to them. Paul invites a different attention: humility, and concern for another person's needs alongside your own. That is not a demand to become endlessly available or to dismiss your limits. It is an invitation to step outside the contest of proving your importance. In the middle of a busy day, where might you give someone your attention without needing to impress them?

Carry thisYou can care for others without proving your importance.

Other passages for this questionGenesis 1:26-28 · Isaiah 41:10 · 1 Corinthians 7:3-4

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Philippians 2 — in context

1If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion,

2make my joy full, by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind;

3doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself;

4each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.

5Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus,

6who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,

7but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.

8And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross.

9Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name;

10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,

More from Philippians

Guided audio for this passage

Philippians 2:1-4 · Tuesday, September 22, 2026 · 12:49

Daily Lectio Divina podcast · Abiding Way Ministries (Sharon Garlough Brown) · abidingway.life · Featured with permission

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