Paul concludes this thought with a flurry of personal mission statements. He summarizes his life’s mission: to know God and experience the power of a life with Christ through participating in his sufferings. It’s all worth it because he will someday be with Christ. 

Paul reflects on all of his pedigree and achievements and declares that none are good places for his confidence. In fact, he throws them all away in order to be found righteous in Christ.

We are told to rejoice and Paul finds no problem repeating that over and over. We have reasons to rejoice! We must watch out for the dogs, evildoers and mutilators of the flesh. But we can tell we are from God if we worship in the Spirit, Glory in Christ, and place our confidence in God.

What would it look like to use what God has placed in our hearts and hands to serve those around us?

God often glorifies himself with small groups of faithful people. The disciples were some of the 500 people who were witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We too are called to be witnesses in our generation.

King David knew that God wanted to use him for His glory, but he faced time in the wilderness. There, a group of 400 loyal and dedicated men joined him and together they changed Israel for God’s glory. There is real power when “I” becomes “We”. We Build This Together. We Invest in Life Change. With 400 dedicated men God changed the course of Israel’s history.

God chooses to accomplish his purposes in His own ways. He sometimes uses small groups of dedicated and obedient people to accomplish great feats for His glory. Even fear-filled obedience is useful to God. 

Although we are saved (justified) by Christ, we still have to learn to live in the new reality (sanctification). If we hold onto Christ, we will shine like stars in the sky, drawing others toward the feet of Jesus.

We see the example that we as believers are meant to emulate in the humility of Christ. We should look to him as our example, learn from him as our guide, and lift him up as our Lord.

God is reminding the Philippian church of the importance of maintaining unity by recalling to their mind what He has done. He encourages them to fight to be of one mind and mission and watch out for things that cause division.