the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but intending to increase my suffering in my imprisonment.

It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in any way but that by my speaking with all boldness Christ will be exalted now as always in my body, whether by life or by death.

For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ but of suffering for him as well,

Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.

Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others.

who, though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped,

Shining as Lights in the World

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence but much more now in my absence, work on your own salvation with fear and trembling,

so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world,

holding forth the word of life so that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

All of them are seeking their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

He was indeed so ill that he nearly died. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, so that I would not have one sorrow after another.

because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for those services that you could not give me.

Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord.

Breaking with the Past

To write the same things to you is not troublesome to me, and for you it is a source of steadfastness.

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

Pressing toward the Goal

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me.

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have laid hold of it, but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

As for the things that you have learned and received and heard and noticed in me, do them, and the God of peace will be with you.

Not that I am referring to being in need, for I have learned to be content with whatever I have.

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