Merry Christmas from CFHG to all of my readers! I wish there was a way today that I could express to you how thankful I am for you and the joy that I experience in each entry as God Himself transforms and molds my heart while writing to you. Know I am praying for you and your Christmas today, and I pray it is a blessed one.

The birth of Jesus—if you have not yet had a chance to read about this incredible story, please stop now, find a Bible or search online for Luke chapter 2. Be reminded of Jesus, born of a Virgin Mary, wrapped in cloth and placed in a manger (Luke 2:7). The angels sang songs of worship to God, for this baby boy would bring peace to men and women for generations to come (Luke 2:14)!

It was the Messiah, the promised one. Little did His mother Mary know that Jesus would grow and “become strong…filled with wisdom and the grace of God…” (Luke 2:40) That He would fulfill every prophecy written about Him hundreds to thousands of years before. (Might I add the odds of one many fulfilling every prophecy is over 1 x 10^157, or 157 zeros!!)

This morning in my quiet time, I was drawn to Philippians 2:1-11, and would love to share it with you.

“If you have any encouragement from being untied with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look no only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made Himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled himself
and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.

Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place
and gave Him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.”

I am sharing this passage today to demonstrate Christ’s humility. The King of Kings came in the form of a baby from a poor family born not in a place of royalty but in a manger.

Not only does this passage exemplify His humility—making Himself nothing, appearing like a man when He is in fact a King, obedient to death when He was without sin—but verse 5 says “your attitude should be the same…” The humility demonstrated by Jesus in His life, from birth to death, should be imitated by all His followers.

In seeking to be more like Jesus, in praying to be conformed in to His image, the desire to glorify myself has decreased, and a desperate need to glorify the Father has increased. Whether this be in softball, school, relationships, finances–in any way that the Father has blessed me, I am unworthy of His grace.

My encouragement today is to pray for understanding of Christ’s humility. Pray that you would live life in the same way, confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord and giving glory to God the Father, so that one day you too may be exalted to the highest place.