We're in the midst of a series for Advent called J-CURVE: Descent of Love. Today we're going to focus in on Paul's emphasis on Jesus' surrender of his rights, "he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped." Our material comes from the J-Curve book and new J-Curve Interactive Bible Study, Unit 3.

"I had to do something last weekend that I didn't want to do and I could just feel my spirit resisting. It was a job around the house that I dislike. I paused and I prayed and I "received" this job. It's a corny thing to say, but I did it by saying Jesus would you give me the grace to do this footwashing task. I think this is often a missing step of love. It is the decision to not grasp. For me, it was free time, or going on a bike ride, or watching some TV show—there was something I was grasping at. My will might be hidden from me, but it's not hidden from my wife. There's this low-level crankiness that comes out in a lot of subtle ways. But my surrender led to me actually doing a better job. Thinking of the footwashing analogy, receiving this from my Father made me more attentive to the feet and getting the dirt off.."

"In Philippians 2:6-11, Paul pulls back the curtains and gives us an x-ray of Christmas. It's the only place we hear the story from Jesus' perspective."

"The great moment in Jesus' life is Gethsemane. What's happening at Gethsemane is that Jesus is not grasping at a pain-free life. He is not grasping at a different narrative. He's not grasping at a different job. He's surrendering his will while being fully alive to his desire. And that allows room for joy as you continue the work of love."