Php 2:1-30 (NLT)
1 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate?
2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.
3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.
4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form,
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12 Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.
13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
14 Do everything without complaining and arguing,
15 so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.
16 Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless.
17 But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy.
18 Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy.
19 If the Lord Jesus is willing, I hope to send Timothy to you soon for a visit. Then he can cheer me up by telling me how you are getting along.
20 I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares about your welfare.
21 All the others care only for themselves and not for what matters to Jesus Christ.
22 But you know how Timothy has proved himself. Like a son with his father, he has served with me in preaching the Good News.
23 I hope to send him to you just as soon as I find out what is going to happen to me here.
24 And I have confidence from the Lord that I myself will come to see you soon.
25 Meanwhile, I thought I should send Epaphroditus back to you. He is a true brother, co-worker, and fellow soldier. And he was your messenger to help me in my need.
26 I am sending him because he has been longing to see you, and he was very distressed that you heard he was ill.
27 And he certainly was ill; in fact, he almost died. But God had mercy on him—and also on me, so that I would not have one sorrow after another.
28 So I am all the more anxious to send him back to you, for I know you will be glad to see him, and then I will not be so worried about you.
29 Welcome him in the Lord’s love and with great joy, and give him the honor that people like him deserve.
30 For he risked his life for the work of Christ, and he was at the point of death while doing for me what you couldn’t do from far away.
The deeper one enters into the love of God, the less focus and value are placed on self. Evidence of true union with Him, therefore, is not found in the volume or magnitude of blessings received while basking in God’s outpouring love. Rather, it is seen in the volume and magnitude of compassion, care, and love poured out toward others.
To be one with Christ is to share His mindset: He did not let His divine identity or ability prevent Him from fulfilling His purpose by laying down His life for us. Astonishingly, He demonstrated that our value was greater than His own by offering His body as a sacrifice. There can be no authentic reception of blessing or genuine identification with His nature apart from adopting this same attitude and passion of heart.
Paul makes clear that this will require intentional effort—perhaps akin to Jesus’ anguish in Gethsemane—since it will not arise naturally from the desires of the flesh. When salvation’s purpose is being worked out and brought to completion, the claim of God’s provision shifts dramatically: it points far more toward transformation in the lives we touch than toward the accumulation of temporary, material blessings.
Our song of rejoicing then centers less on hoarding what comes “to” us and more on the opportunities to channel God’s blessings “through” us to the precious lives around us. When “through” takes precedence over “to,” the storehouse needed to ensure others receive will require continual expansion.
Because this outward orientation is the essential validation of our new life in Christ, there is a real necessity for effort and intentional work in loving and caring for others. Thankfully, verse 13 is embedded right in the middle of these exhortations, offering both help and hope: the will and the power to do these things come from God Himself working within us. As we run to Him with tender, compassionate hearts, our lives are inevitably shaped by His Spirit toward these good works. Every essential mark of this new life flows from abiding with Him, beholding His heart, and catching His passion for the very people we are called to touch