Philippians 2

1If, then, being in Christ brings any encouragement, if love offers any consolation, if there is any sharing in the Spirit, any tenderness and mercy,

2make my joy full by thinking the same way, holding the same love, sharing one soul, and setting your minds on one thing.

3Let nothing be done out of rivalry or empty pride; instead, in humility, regard one another as ranking above yourselves.

4None of you should keep an eye only on your own affairs; each of you should watch out for the affairs of others as well.

5Let your thinking among yourselves be the same as it was in Christ Jesus:

6Though he was in the form of God, he did not think of being equal with God as something to grasp.

7Rather, he emptied himself and took the form of a servant, coming in the likeness of human beings.

8And when he appeared in outward form as a human being, he humbled himself, becoming obedient all the way to death—death on a cross.

9That is why God also supremely exalted him and graciously gave him the name that is above every name,

10so that at the name of Jesus every knee in heaven, on earth, and under the earth would bow,

11and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12So, my dear friends, just as you have obeyed at all times—not only when I was there, but now even more while I am away—keep working out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

13for God is the one at work in you, producing both the willing and the working, for the sake of his good purpose.

14Do everything without complaints or disputes,

15so that you will be above reproach and innocent, God’s children who are without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. Among them you are shining like lights in the world,

16as you hold on to the word of life. Then on the day of Christ I will have reason to boast that I did not run for nothing or toil for nothing.

17But even if I am poured out as a drink offering over the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am full of joy, and I share that joy with all of you.

18In the same way, you too should be full of joy and share your joy with me.

19In the Lord Jesus I hope to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I too may take heart when I find out how you are.

20For I have no one else like-minded who will sincerely look out for your concerns.

21For they all chase after what is theirs, not what is Jesus Christ’s.

22But you know how he has proven himself: like a child alongside his father, he has worked as a servant with me for the gospel.

23So I hope to send him right away, once I have seen how my own situation turns out.

24And I am persuaded in the Lord that I too will come before long.

25Still, I have judged it necessary to send you Epaphroditus—my brother, co-worker, and fellow soldier, and your envoy who served me in my need.

26For he has been yearning for all of you and has been troubled, since you heard he was sick.

27He really was sick, and nearly died. But God showed him mercy—and not just him, but me too, so that I would not have one grief piled on another.

28So I am sending him with all the more urgency, so that you can see him again and be glad, and my own sorrow can be lightened.

29Receive him, then, in the Lord with complete joy, and value such people highly,

30because for the sake of Christ’s work he came right up to the edge of death, putting his life at risk to fill in what was missing from your service to me.