UST PHP Chapter 2

2 Since the Messiah encourages us, since he comforts us with his love, since the Spirit has produced fellowship among you, since God gives you affection and compassion toward one another, 2 make me completely happy by doing the following things: Agree with one another, love one another, be closely united with one another, be united in your thinking. 3 Never try to selfishly make yourselves more important than others, and do not think of yourselves as better than others. Instead, be humble, and treat others as more important than yourselves. 4 Each one of you should not only be concerned about your needs. Instead, you should also be concerned about other people and their needs.

5 Think the same way as the Messiah Jesus thought:

6 Although he was in every way the same as God, he did not insist on keeping all the privileges of being equal with God.

7 Rather, he gave up divine privileges

and became a servant to others

and became a human being. When he had become a human being,

8 he humbled himself further. Specifically, he humbled himself by obeying God so far as to be willing to die. He was even willing to die by being crucified on a cross.

9 Because the Messiah humbly obeyed God, God also honored him very much;

he honored him more than any other person or being,

10 so that before Jesus,

every being will bow down and honor him,

beings who are in heaven and beings on earth and beings under the earth;

11 and every mouth will say,

that Jesus the Messiah is Lord,

so that God the Father is honored.

12 As a result of these things, my dearly loved fellow believers, as you have always obeyed God when I was with you, now that I am apart from you, you also must obey him even more. Every one of you, work with God in his saving work within you, and do this humbly reverencing God. 13 For God is doing something within you so that you will want to do—and then actually do—the good things that please him.

14 Do everything without grumbling or quarreling. 15 Behave like that in order that you may be completely faultless, children of God, who keep yourselves from evil as you live among the wicked people of this world. Then, as you live among them, you will stand out brightly against the darkness of sin. 16 Tell others the message about how to have eternal life. Do all these things so that at the time when the Messiah returns, I will be able to rejoice that I did not work hard among you uselessly.

17 And I am joyful and I will rejoice with you all, despite suffering daily or going through times when those who oppose the gospel try to kill me. I will gladly suffer along with you, adding to your service which you offer because you believe in him. 18 In the same way also, each of you should rejoice regarding these things; you should rejoice together with me!

19 I am hoping that the Lord Jesus will soon allow me to be able to send Timothy to visit you. I want this visit to happen because I hope he can encourage me when he returns with news of you. 20 I have no one else like Timothy who genuinely cares for you. 21 All the others whom I might send to you are concerned only about their own matters. They are not concerned enough about what Jesus the Messiah considers important. 22 But you know that Timothy has proved that he serves the Lord and others faithfully. You know that he has served the Lord closely together with me in proclaiming the good news to people. 23 I am hoping to send Timothy to you as soon as I know what will happen to me. 24 And I am confident that the Lord will allow me to be released soon, so that I myself will also come to you.

25 I have concluded that I should send Epaphroditus back to you. He is a fellow believer and my fellow worker, and he endures difficulties together with me just like soldiers endure difficulties together. He is your messenger and servant, whom you sent to help me when I was needy. 26 Epaphroditus eagerly desires to be there with you at Philippi, and he is concerned for you that you would be worried about him since you learned of his illness. 27 Indeed, he was so sick that he almost died. But God pitied him, and he also pitied me, and as a result, he healed him. God pitied me so that I would not grieve even more. 28 So I am sending him back to you as quickly as possible. I will do this in order that you may rejoice when you see him again, and so that I might grieve less. 29 Receive Epaphroditus joyfully as a fellow believer, and honor other believers who are like him. 30 Do this because, as Epaphroditus was working for the Messiah, he almost died. He knew that he might die as a result of helping me, and he nearly did die. He helped me in order to supply the things that I needed, something you could not do because you are far away from me.

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