Listen to today’s devo!

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more. (Phil. 3:4)

Expanded Passage: Philippians 3:4

I am not a very good rule follower. I like to test the edges of rules and see if there is value in them. But if my godliness is to be measured by my ability to follow those rules, then I start my life of following Jesus at a distinct disadvantage! However, that isn’t how Jesus has set this up. We should take note that Jesus and his disciples who wrote the New Testament reserved their harshest criticism for those legalistic, religious types who were just naturally good at following rules. They thought that their natural tendency to be rule followers was some kind of spiritual gift given to them because God liked them more. They used their gift of rule following to shame, put down, and sometimes torture and kill those who they believed did not properly follow the rules. This made their religion very restrictive and inaccessible to anyone who was not good at following rules. But Jesus changed all of that!

I might not like the way someone else is living out their Christian life, but that does not stop me from seeing the beauty in the diverse, sometimes confusing, tapestry of Jesus followers from every nation, tribe, tongue, language, and tradition. This uncoupling of following Jesus from simply following the law is what has allowed the gospel to function in miraculous ways in every culture on earth. When it came to following rules, those Pharisees knew what they were doing, but when it came to changing people, and ultimately the world, Jesus really knew what he was doing!

Join the throng.

excerpt from The Book of Philippians (WPH)

Mike Hilson is lead pastor of New Life Church in La Plata, Maryland, and author of several books and ministry resources.

© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.