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Being a good son or daughter does not come easy to children. Our sinful, selfish nature needs training and instruction. Therefore, we are called to imitate Christ in all things; this is what it means to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Jesus. With this in mind, Paul tells children, And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.” Children are prepared for Christian adulthood through learning to respectfully submit to their parents.

Being a good father does not come easy to men. Our sinful, selfish nature needs training and instruction, because by nature we can be impatient, angry, and even vengeful. We are called to imitate Christ in all things; this is what it means to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Jesus. With this in mind, Paul tells us 21 And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord. It’s interesting to note that Paul does not give the same instruction to mothers. As fathers exercise their authority and give leadership in their homes, they are to be mindful that their authority is to be used lovingly and gently, but firmly, just as God is loving and firm with each of us.

Being a good wife does not come easy to women any more than being a good husband comes easy to men. Our sinful, selfish nature needs training and instruction. We are called to imitate Christ in all things; this is what it means to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Jesus. With this in mind, Paul tells us, 21 And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church. 24 As the church submits to Christ, so you wives should submit to your husbands in everything. **33** So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. Paul is assuming that the man in this marriage is the chief servant in his home, faithfully laying down his life for his wife and children, just as Christ did for the church.

Being a good husband does not come easy to men. Our sinful, selfish nature needs training and instruction. We are called to imitate Christ in all things; this is what it means to deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Jesus. With this in mind, Paul tells us, "And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." It is always easy to respect anyone who is utterly unselfish and totally devoted to serving others.

Let’s be blunt, the Apostle Paul could not have done his great work without the generosity of Christians. He closes this letter with these words: Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty. As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I first brought you the Gospel and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness.  At the moment I have all I need—and more! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God. And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever! Amen.

Paul shares his secret of contentment, regardless of circumstances. He says, "How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. A life lived in union with Christ produces contentment and confidence that Christ is all we need!"

Practical Christianity is not complicated. It just means that we must be united with Christ in our attitude and in the way we think. Paul says, Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

Paul addresses a feud between two women in the Philippian Church. He calls on the whole church to assist in bringing peace so that the advancement of the Gospel is unhindered. He says, Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work. 2 Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. 3 And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Gospel. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.

When life is easy and good, it’s easy to forget that this world is not our home. Paul reminds the church for the second time in this letter, that our citizenship is not in this world. He says, Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ.  They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

Paul wants us to understand that this world has nothing to offer us; that what must occupy our desires and pursuits is the Kingdom of God. But it means that we must forget the past and keep our eyes on Jesus. He says, I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. But we must hold on to the progress we have already made.

Paul reminds us that all that matters in this life is that we know Christ and the mighty power of the resurrection at work in us. He says, I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!

Paul teaches us what matters most, and it’s not our achievements or privilege. Paul says, Whatever happens, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. I never get tired of telling you these things, and I do it to safeguard your faith. Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.