Daily Discipleship - Day 267: Have This Mind

May 3, 2026

Daily Discipleship • Day 267 • Friday, January 22, 2027

Have This Mind

Philippians 2:5-11

Pleasant Springs Church • ps-church.com

Scripture

Philippians 2:5–8 (Greek NT) τοῦτο φρονείτε ἐν ὑμῦν ὁ καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦˇ ὅς ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷˇ ἀλλὰ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσεν. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

Author & Audience

Paul quotes what scholars believe is an early Christian hymn — possibly sung in worship before Paul's letter — to exhort the Philippians toward unity and humility. The downward movement of Christ from divine equality to servant-death becomes the pattern for all Christian relationships.

Word Study

ἐκένωσεν

ekenōsen · Greek NT

“he emptied himself, poured himself out”

From kenoo — to empty, make void. The theological term kenosis comes from this verse. Jesus did not empty Himself of divinity but of the independent use of divine prerogatives — He lived the divine life within the constraints of human flesh. The verb is aorist: a decisive, completed act. He emptied Himself once, completely, without reservation.

Reflection

From the writers we read together

BibleProject

Biblical Theology Resource, Tim Mackie and Jon Collins

“Jesus shows us what God is truly like — and what it looks like for a human being to fully trust and obey God.” — BibleProject, Philippians Overview (2016)

BibleProject reads the Christ-hymn of Philippians 2 as the answer to two questions at once: What is God like? And what does full humanity look like? The answer to both is the same: the one who does not grasp at status but empties himself in service. Jesus is simultaneously the revelation of divine character and the model of human vocation. The hymn that begins with descent (equality-to-servanthood-to-death) ends with exaltation — and Paul says: have this mind.

The ethical import is immediate: in the Philippian community's rivalry and self-promotion, the downward path of Christ is the answer. Count others more significant than yourselves (v. 3). Look not only to your own interests but to the interests of others (v. 4). The cosmic hymn is not just theology; it is the shape of how Christians treat one another on Tuesday morning. Where in your relationships are you grasping at status or advantage? What would it look like to empty yourself there?

Continue your study: Discipleship School — Explore how the kenotic pattern of Christ — downward, servant, other-focused — shapes the disciple's life.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, King of the Universe, Lord Jesus, You emptied Yourself of what was rightfully Yours. Give me that same mind — not grasping, not self-promoting, but freely pouring out for others. Make me a servant in the pattern of the One who became a servant for me. Amen.

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