I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. (ESV)
If you are new to this reading plan, follow the instructions on the right side of this page or click here to read the "Why Just One Letter" introduction article.
Throughout each month, we will post short articles to give some depth of understanding regarding our text (see the archive links on the lower right of this page for review). Today we will discuss...
New Month - New Passage - Same Goal
Last month we received feedback that the passage for February was a bit difficult to take in and memorize because of Paul's awkward wording.
We want to help with that this month and we want to remind you that Perfect Memorization isn't the end goal. The goal is that the content of this letter would become so familiar in your daily thoughts that it will change the way you pray, speak and live as a Christian in the world.
Or as we wrote in the introduction article:
"The Big Win if you co-labor with us through this text is that you will NOT ONLY have mostly memorized the entire letter to the Philippians by Dec. 31, 2015, but also:
The truth of the Gospel and its fruit will be so soaked into your heart that you will not be able to help but meditate on the Word (Joshua 1:8) as it dwells richly in your heart (Colossians 3:16).
This will be a big win for you, for our church and for the people God reaches through you."
So memorization is a plus and is not bad, but it's not the main point, so rest easy. And, if you do want a way to help yourself take the Word into your head and heart, the easiest way is to handwrite the passage without the paragraph structure from your bible or on the top of this article.
For example, in my (Ken's) office, I have the passage above written like this (broken up mostly by a single idea per line and with phrases that really hit me in ALL CAPS:
I WANT YOU TO KNOW, brothers
That WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME has really served to ADVANCE THE GOSPEL
So that
IT HAS BECOME KNOWN throughout the whole imperial guard and to the rest
That MY IMPRISONMENT IS FOR CHRIST
and
MOST of the brothers
Having BECOME CONFIDENT- IN THE LORD - BY MY IMPRISONMENT
Are much more BOLD to SPEAK THE WORD - WITHOUT FEAR
Some indeed preach Christ from ENVY AND RIVALRY - but others from GOOD WILL
The latter do it out of LOVE - KNOWING that I am put here for the DEFENSE OF THE GOSPEL
The former proclaim Christ out of SELFISH AMBITION - NOT SINCERELY - but thinking to AFFLICT ME in my imprisonment.
What then?
ONLY - That in every way - Whether in PRETENSE or in TRUTH - - -
CHRIST IS PROCLAIMED! And in that I REJOICE!
So, as the new month kicks off, you can jump start your work in Philippians by writing the text in a way that is easiest for you to personally grasp (WITHOUT changing the words).
Then, make sure to talk the text over with your church family. You will never get as much out of God's Word alone as you will with other Christians. It's not how you were designed.
Enjoy the text!
