who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus’ story begins not at the top but at the bottom, down in the stable of our ordinary lives. It begins with those poor, itinerant shepherds becoming the first witnesses of his birth.

I once asked a group of homeless refugees who had most helped them to find safety. They each told stories of acts of human friendship and kindness. Then one of them simply said,

“I was ashamed to tell my family and friends I was homeless or for them to see me like this. There was one person who helped me – Jesus. Jesus never deserted me. The worse it gets, the closer he is to me.”

The group fell silent. We all realised that what we were listening to was the truth, a truth which changes lives: the upward gravity of Jesus’ love.

Whether the people you admire most have in some way emptied themselves? What you might need to let go of? What you might need to take up?