Saturday 06 November 2010

Background

This is basically Paul's thank you letter to a church whosegenerous giving has helped him though some hard times. Paul was inprison in Rome, many miles away, yet the Philippians had gone tothe trouble of getting a collection together, and sending amessenger - Epaphroditus - to deliver their gifts to him.

Verses 14 and 19 are very popular in some church circles today. Alot of Christians quote verse 14 when faced with some seeminglyinsurmountable task, or just as a means of motivating themselves toachieve personal goals. But there is a danger of it being used as alicense for people to try their hand at things they really do nothave the necessary skills or expertise for. Likewise, Christianscan sometimes focus heavily on verse 19's promise that God willsupply all their needs - but not in the context of the precedingverses!

Paul's response to the gift from the Philippians is worth noting.Yes, receiving the gift was great and it surely must have been agreat help to him. But more important than the gift itself was whatit said about the donors. It proved that the Philippian churchmembers were growing in love, since it was love that had promptedthem to help support Paul in his time of need.

To Ponder

How easy do you find it to be content when youhave little? How about when you have much?

What can this passage teach us about giving moneytowards church work?