Philippians

Philippians is a letter from the apostle Paul, written with Timothy's greeting attached, to the church at Philippi, the first congregation he founded in Europe on his second missionary journey (Acts 16). Paul wrote from prison, most likely in Rome around A.D. 61-62, after the Philippians sent him a gift by the hand of Epaphroditus. Of all Paul's letters it is the warmest and most personal, thanking a beloved church for its long partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

Though written in chains, the letter overflows with joy; forms of the word appear more than a dozen times in four short chapters. Its most famous passage is the hymn of Christ's humility in chapter 2, where Jesus takes the form of a servant, humbles himself to the death of the cross, and is given a name above every name. Paul also recounts his own credentials counted as loss for Christ, presses toward the mark for the prize, and urges the church to rejoice, be anxious for nothing, and pray about everything.

Philippians matters because it shows that Christian joy does not depend on circumstances. Paul has learned, in whatsoever state he is, to be content, and his confidence that to live is Christ and to die is gain has strengthened believers facing hardship in every generation.