the others proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely, seeking to cause me anxiety in my imprisonment.

My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all boldness, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

not being frightened in any way by your opponents. This is a sign of destruction for them, but of your deliverance—and this is from God.

For it has been given to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him,

Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
as something to be used for His own advantage.

So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

But I considered it necessary to send you Epaphroditus—my brother, coworker, and fellow soldier, as well as your messenger and minister to my need—

Indeed, he was so sick that he nearly died. However, God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, so that I would not have one grief on top of another.

For we are the circumcision, the ones who serve by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh—

and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith.

Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.

Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead,

I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need.

For even in Thessalonica you sent gifts for my need several times.

Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that is increasing to your account.