Philippians 1:12-18

Kirk

March 26

"Now I want you to know, brothers, that my circumstances have actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.

And most of the brothers, confident in the Lord by my chains, now dare more greatly to speak the word without fear. It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. The former, however, preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can add to the distress of my chains.

What then is the issue? Just this: that in every way, whether by false motives or true, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,"
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Paul, Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭12‬-‭18‬ ‭BSB‬‬

My Pondering

Paul had a solid purpose. Come hell or high water, he was not going to be dissuaded. He had a singular purpose: to see that Christ's gospel story was shared effectively and widely as possible.

In this passage, he kept the main thing, the main thing. He turned what some may have considered a defeat (being imprisoned) inside out. He took his confinement and used it for God's glory.

Paul was more concerned about his purpose, the advancement of it, than who got the credit. He was more interested in the mission than the motives herein. No doubt motives matter, but mission is job one.

Perhaps, well most likely, your mission isn't as big as Paul's - to be the first to evangelize the middle east and southern Europe but it's important nonetheless to you, to God and others.

What is your purpose? Perhaps like me, it breaks down into different roles and goals.

My purpose is to glorify God with the use of my Time, Talent and Treasure. Perhaps that should be said of every Christian. The question is How? When? Where? You know the Why already! For me, I identified the roles of my hand to help. And I extended it further to include both hand and feet as reminders.

Perhaps most importantly, it's about thinking Godly things, connecting with your heart and doing with your hands. Head, heart, hands.