One in Christ

¹ Therefore if you have any encouragement^* in Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship^* with the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being united in spirit and purpose.

³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than^* yourselves. ⁴ Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

The Mind of Christ

⁵ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, existing^* in the form of God,

did not consider^* equality with God

something to be grasped,^*

⁷ but emptied Himself,

taking the form of a servant,^*

being made in human likeness.

⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,

He humbled Himself

and became obedient to^* death —

even death on a cross.^*

⁹ Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place

and gave^* Him the name above all 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 confess^* that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

Lights in the World

¹² Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, continue to work out^* your salvation^* with fear and trembling. ¹³ For it is God who works^* in you to will and to act^* on behalf of His good purpose.

¹⁴ Do everything without complaining or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine^* as lights in the world ¹⁶ as you hold forth the word of life, in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or 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 with all of you. ¹⁸ So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

Timothy and Epaphroditus

¹⁹ Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I learn how you are doing. ²⁰ I have nobody else like him who will genuinely care for your needs. ²¹ For all the others look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. ²² But you know Timothy’s proven worth, that as a child with his father he has served with me to advance the gospel. ²³ So^* I hope to send him as soon as I see what happens with me. ²⁴ And I trust in the Lord that I myself will come soon.

²⁵ But I thought it necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my needs. ²⁶ For he has been longing for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. ²⁷ He was sick indeed, nearly unto death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.

²⁸ Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less anxious. ²⁹ Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him, ³⁰ because he nearly^* died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for your deficit of service^* to me.