March 8 Daily Devotional

Bible Verse

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus..." (Philippians 2:5 NKJV).

Devotional

What is it to have the mind that was in Christ Jesus?

We answer that it is to be ever aiming after the highest perfection of holiness. It is to have the eye of faith ever on Jesus as your model, studying him closely as your great example, seeking conformity to him in all things. It is to be regulated in all your conduct by his humble spirit.

First, with regard to others, it is to choose the low place. It is to acknowledge God in—and to glorify him for—the grace, gifts, and usefulness he bestows on other saints. It is to exemplify in your social interaction the self-denying, expansive benevolence of the Gospel, which enjoins the duty of not seeking above all your own interests, but to sacrifice all self-gratification, and even honor and advantage, if, by so doing, you may promote the happiness and welfare of others. Thus it is to live, not for yourself, but for God and your fellow men. "For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself" (Rom. 14:7). It is to live in the spirit of him who, on the eve of returning to his glory, took a towel and tied it around his waist, and washed his disciples' feet. It is to serve the saints in the most lowly acts and offices.

Second, with regard to yourself, it is to exemplify the same humble spirit which your Savior breathed. It is to be small in your own eyes, to cherish a humble estimate of your gifts, attainments, usefulness, and station. It is to be meek, gentle, and submissive under rebuke and correction. It is to not seek great things for yourself (Jer. 45:5). It is to not court human praise, watching your heart with perpetual vigilance and jealousy in case you thirst for the honor which comes from man, and not "the honor that comes from God only" (John 5:44 KJV). It is to contribute to the needs of saints without begrudging. It is to give to Christ's cause without showiness. It is to do good in secret—to seek, in all your works of zeal, and benevolence, and charity, to hide yourself, that self may be perpetually mortified.

In a word, it is to hunger and thirst after righteousness, to be poor in spirit, lowly in mind, to walk humbly with God, and to live to, and labor for, and aim after, the glory of God in all things. This is to have the "mind which was also in Christ Jesus."

Fill thou my life, O Lord my God,
in ev'ry part with praise,
that my whole being may proclaim
thy being and thy ways.

Not for the lip of praise alone,
nor e'en the praising heart,
I ask, but for a life made up
of praise in ev'ry part;

Praise in the common things of life,
its goings out and in,
praise in each duty and each deed,
however small and mean.

Fill ev'ry part of me with praise;
let all my being speak
of thee and of thy love, O Lord,
poor though I be, and weak.

So shalt thou, Lord, from me, e'en me,
receive the glory due,
and so shall I begin on earth
the song for ever new.

So shall no part of day or night
from sacredness be free:
but all my life, in ev'ry step,
be fellowship with thee.

(Horatius Bonar, 1866)

Be sure to read the Preface by Octavius Winslow and A Note from the Editor by Larry E. Wilson.

Larry Wilson is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. In addition to having served as the General Secretary of the Committee on Christian Education of the OPC (2000–2004) and having written a number of articles and booklets (such as God's Words for Worship and Why Does the OPC Baptize Infants) for New Horizons and elsewhere, he has pastored OPC churches in Minnesota, Indiana, and Ohio. We are grateful to him for his editing of Morning Thoughts, the OPC Daily Devotional for 2025.