Complete Joy
Barbaranne Kelly, Guest Writer
TODAY’S TREASURE
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord, and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others (Philippians 2:1–4).
We ended last week with the double gift of faith and persecution. Though we found that there truly is encouragement to be found in suffering for our faith, I don’t want to leave us hanging there, and neither does Paul. In his next breath, he reminds the Philippian believers and us of the matrix of joy-infusing comfort that can only be found in the gifts of salvation from our triune God.
That the Christians in Philippi would find unity in the commonality of their suffering and persecution is not an unfamiliar story. How many thrilling action movies have at the core of their story a diverse band of characters who, though they previously had nothing in common, unite together to overcome a common threat? These stories demonstrate the truth that that which we share in common may bind us together more than our differences may drive us apart. And while it makes for good theater, a bond forged only through a common trial may actually have no lasting hold upon people who diverge in every other area of their lives. Once the threat has passed, the common bond often fades.
In the closing verses of chapter 1, Paul has encouraged the unity of the Philippian believers in the face of the common opposition they face from their pagan neighbors. But the unity shared by these beleaguered believers runs far deeper than common foes. Their unity is grounded in the common salvation they share from the triune God who encourages, loves, and draws them in.
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord, and of one mind (Philippians 2:1–2).
While Paul only names Christ and the Spirit in 2:1, we can reasonably conclude that he means to express the involvement of all three members of the Trinity because of what he has written elsewhere on the same theme of personal humility and the unity of the church (Eph. 4:2–6) and the love of God the Father together with blessings from the Son and the Spirit (2 Cor 13:14). In Today’s Treasure, the point Paul is making is that “the triune God has encouraged us, loved us and established his partnership with us.” For believers, affection and sympathy are “the benefits of encouragement, consolation, and companionship that we receive from Christ, his Father, and his Spirit (and) are expressions of our God’s passionate and compassionate attachment to us.”[1]
These divine blessings and benefits forge the enduring bonds of our unity with those who have been likewise blessed. And this Spirit-born unity expresses itself in Christian humility. Paul goes on to define humility in his exhortation to his readers to “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others.”
According to Dennis E. Johnson, “The word rendered ‘humility’ is, literally, a ‘lowly mindset,’” meaning, “a readiness to forget oneself and to exalt others both with respect and concern. It is to have the grace of the Holy Spirit so turn our hearts inside out that we eagerly honor and care for others, as we instinctively do for ourselves.”[2]
LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT
Tomorrow we will look more intently at the ultimate example of One who took on a lowly mindset and forgot himself in order to exalt others, our Lord Jesus (2:6–8). But for now, let’s follow Paul’s gaze as he looks not to the inconveniences and dangers of his own life of serving others but to the glories of following in his Master’s footsteps. The encouragement, love, and participation of the triune God in his life and ministry have turned his heart inside out to humbly put others’ needs before his own—even from prison. To see his children in the faith following Christ and humbling themselves to care for others brings Paul complete joy (2:2).
PRAYER
Father God, turn my heart inside out and re-wire my instincts so that I might treasure others more highly than myself. Bind Your people together with the same love we have received from You, and give us the readiness of the mind of Christ to eagerly honor and care for others in the same way that we care for our own selves. As we follow our Savior, fill us with the joy-infusing comfort that can only be found in You.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Barbaranne Kelly and her husband Jim are the parents of five of the neatest people they know, and now Barbaranne is the Grandmommy to THREE grand boys! In October that will change to FOUR! Barbaranne and Jim are members of Christ Presbyterian Church in New Braunfels, Texas, where she leads a Bible study for women in the hope that she and they may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge Enjoy and be inspired by more of Barbaranne’s writing at her blog.
[1] Dennis E. Johnson, Philippians, Reformed Expository Commentary (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2013), 113
[2] Ibid., 110.
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Originally published Monday, 08 May 2023.
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