Rom 15:2-4 Each one of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. (3) For even Christ did not please himself. On the contrary, as it is written, The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me. (4) For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures.
Here the principle is this: don’t live to please self. Live to please your neighbor, to do him good, to build him up. This is the Christian approach.
This is the example the Lord Jesus Christ left. Even He did not please Himself. He came “to do the will” of the Father who sent Him and to please Him. To support this statement Paul quoted a part of a verse from a messianic psalm. Christ was insulted by others because of His associations with God the Father.
Then Paul stated a significant principle concerning the purpose and ministry of the Scriptures: For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us. The Scriptures serve to give believers endurance (steadfastness in the face of adversities) and encouragement so that they might have hope (keep on having hope”). As Christians learn from the past (what is written in the OT about others who did not please themselves) they are motivated to endure and be comforted in the present, looking ahead in hope (confidence) to the future.
