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Christian Unity and Christ's Humility

¹ Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, any affection or mercy, ² complete my joy and be of the same mind, by having the same love, being united in spirit, and having one purpose. ³ Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. ⁴ Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well. ⁵ You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had,

Lights in the World

¹² So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, ¹³ for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort—for the sake of his good pleasure—is God. ¹⁴ Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world ¹⁶ by holding on to the word of life so that on the day of Christ I will have a reason to boast that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain. ¹⁷ But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice together with all of you. ¹⁸ And in the same way you also should be glad and rejoice together with me.

Models for Ministry

¹⁹ Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be encouraged by hearing news about you. ²⁰ For there is no one here like him who will readily demonstrate his deep concern for you. ²¹ Others are busy with their own concerns, not those of Jesus Christ. ²² But you know his qualifications, that like a son working with his father, he served with me in advancing the gospel. ²³ So I hope to send him as soon as I know more about my situation, ²⁴ though I am confident in the Lord that I too will be coming to see you soon.

²⁵ But for now I have considered it necessary to send Epaphroditus to you. For he is my brother, coworker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to me in my need. ²⁶ Indeed, he greatly missed all of you and was distressed because you heard that he had been ill. ²⁷ In fact he became so ill that he nearly died. But God showed mercy to him—and not to him only, but also to me—so that I would not have grief on top of grief. ²⁸ Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you can rejoice and I can be free from anxiety. ²⁹ So welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, ³⁰ since it was because of the work of Christ that he almost died. He risked his life so that he could make up for your inability to serve me.