Philippians 2:19-24
Today's Passage: Philippians 2:19-24
Imagine Paul sitting in a Roman cell, penning this letter to the Philippians. The weight of his words comes from the fact that Paul believed his life would end soon for the sake of the Gospel. He wasn’t planning to die in his sleep in a nursing home after many days of bouncing grandbabies on his knee. Instead, he planned to die a martyr’s death at the hand of those he desperately wanted to reach with the Gospel of Christ. Neither is he writing on luxurious stationary from a corner office on a mahogany desk. He’s likely writing from a dark, dank Roman prison cell, struggling to see with minimal light.
In the midst of such suffering, many of us would be looking to the heavens asking, “Why me, O God?” Paul wasn’t focused on himself or his own circumstances. His burden for the Philippians is clear. Consider also that prisoners weren’t provided for by the prison system like in America. Instead, prisoners needed people on the outside to provide for their needs. All that to say, in Paul’s burden for the Philippians, in our passage today, he is sending to them the greatest help and gift he has to physically offer—Timothy.
We have much we can learn from Paul’s heart, but there’s also much to learn from Timothy’s example. Notice what Paul says of Timothy, “I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.” Again, Paul is giving up his greatest asset (one who is “like-minded”), because Timothy has the same “genuine concern.” What does that phrase mean? It does not mean “bless your heart” or “I’ll pray for you” in the cultural Christian sense. Rather it is a deeply spiritual burden for their absolute best.
Paul uses this same word for “concern” one other time in Philippians in the very popular verse, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Phil 4:6). Obviously, Paul isn’t commending anxiousness, even for the Philippians sake, but we see the sense of the kind of “concern” that Paul and Timothy shared. It would appear that negative anxiety and godly burdens are closely associated in our hearts. The difference is clearly the object of our concern, ourselves or others. Paul commended Timothy’s godly concern and seemingly wished he had more men with this same heart—a heart aligned with God’s “concern” for the world.
So, how would you evaluate your “genuine concern” for others? What circumstances in your life cause you to focus your concerns more on yourself? What does it look like to overcome those burdens to live an outward facing life? Another way to ask a similar question would be can you trust God enough to obey even in the midst of less-than-ideal circumstances?
Written By: Tyler Short
Imagine Paul sitting in a Roman cell, penning this letter to the Philippians. The weight of his words comes from the fact that Paul believed his life would end soon for the sake of the Gospel. He wasn’t planning to die in his sleep in a nursing home after many days of bouncing grandbabies on his knee. Instead, he planned to die a martyr’s death at the hand of those he desperately wanted to reach with the Gospel of Christ. Neither is he writing on luxurious stationary from a corner office on a mahogany desk. He’s likely writing from a dark, dank Roman prison cell, struggling to see with minimal light.
In the midst of such suffering, many of us would be looking to the heavens asking, “Why me, O God?” Paul wasn’t focused on himself or his own circumstances. His burden for the Philippians is clear. Consider also that prisoners weren’t provided for by the prison system like in America. Instead, prisoners needed people on the outside to provide for their needs. All that to say, in Paul’s burden for the Philippians, in our passage today, he is sending to them the greatest help and gift he has to physically offer—Timothy.
We have much we can learn from Paul’s heart, but there’s also much to learn from Timothy’s example. Notice what Paul says of Timothy, “I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.” Again, Paul is giving up his greatest asset (one who is “like-minded”), because Timothy has the same “genuine concern.” What does that phrase mean? It does not mean “bless your heart” or “I’ll pray for you” in the cultural Christian sense. Rather it is a deeply spiritual burden for their absolute best.
Paul uses this same word for “concern” one other time in Philippians in the very popular verse, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Phil 4:6). Obviously, Paul isn’t commending anxiousness, even for the Philippians sake, but we see the sense of the kind of “concern” that Paul and Timothy shared. It would appear that negative anxiety and godly burdens are closely associated in our hearts. The difference is clearly the object of our concern, ourselves or others. Paul commended Timothy’s godly concern and seemingly wished he had more men with this same heart—a heart aligned with God’s “concern” for the world.
So, how would you evaluate your “genuine concern” for others? What circumstances in your life cause you to focus your concerns more on yourself? What does it look like to overcome those burdens to live an outward facing life? Another way to ask a similar question would be can you trust God enough to obey even in the midst of less-than-ideal circumstances?
Written By: Tyler Short
1 Comment
This was really good! Thank you brother for sharing this!