NCC Daily

If you’ve been following along with the series this summer, then you know that the “me” here is Paul. And he’s speaking to the church in Philippi. In this particular verse, Paul urges his listeners to put into practice, or live out the things they’ve learned. So if you’ve ever heard the phrase “Do as I say, not as I do,” that’s not what Paul is saying here. Rather, he’s saying, “Do as I say, and as I do.”

In Paul’s writings he talks about God’s involvement in every aspect of the life of the believer, but also that believers are commanded to do the work too. We have a saying at NCC: pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on you. In Philippians 4:8 Paul is telling the believer these are the things that should be filling our minds and this is the work we should be doing.

This letter we call Philippians is a master class in theology, but it’s also a master class in psychology. The positivity with which the Apostle Paul writes is unparalleled in any of this other letters, which is pretty amazing considering the fact that Paul is writing from prison. I would suggest that the key is prayer.

These verses are Paul's appeal to the Philippian Christians to have an attitude of joy. Our English word for "attitude" comes to us from the Greek word that meant "to fasten." Our attitude is a reflection of what has fastened itself to our minds. Rejoicing in the Lord always is our way to fasten our minds to the blessings we have in Him.

A theme that runs through the entire book of Philippians is the idea of the church being of “one mind.” He wants the church to live in harmony with one another, and these two ladies are allowing some sort of disagreement to distract them from the mission of the church they worked at with Paul.

As a child does not question the beauty of their artwork, I will not question the beautiful signs of God that are clearly all around me. Let us choose to come to our God with a childlike faith.

Instead of reinforcing the stereotypes out there about Christians, we can do the real work of citizens of heaven: by breaking barriers, crossing cultures, and strengthening a beloved community.

In the full context here of these verses that we just read, the Apostle Paul, who is the writer here, is talking about mindset and focus. In the verse before, or the verses before, he is using a racing metaphor, or a runners metaphor, when he’s talking about being focused on the finish line and winning a prize. The best way, he says, to do that is to look ahead. And he says the prize of the believer is God's calling.

In this Scripture, Paul is not saying “follow the things I say” but follow my example. Paul was very sure of his identity in Christ and of the ways he was living his life. He was so sure of this that he had told others to follow what he was doing and how he was living. He wasn't just teaching, his actions matched his words, he was living a life modeling Jesus and honoring the call and gift of salvation.

Friends, we’re all going to find ourselves in disagreement—both internally and externally. Paul is calling us to not lose the forest for the trees. Instead, remember the spiritual ground you stand on. Christ loves you and died for your sins. From this known point, plot your course balancing your consultation between Scripture and prayer to hold fast to the progress you have already made.