Paul’s hope was that, whether he would live or die, Christ would be honoured. He would not be ashamed as a prisoner, nor ashamed if he should die. He shared this as a pattern for the Philippian believers. Paul’s thoughts and view of life and death are different than most of ours. He did not view one as bad and the other good, rather, he viewed them both as good. For Paul, to live was Christ and to die was gain. He depicts dying as the “better of two goods.” Most people today avoid the topic of death. But for Paul, he considered dying as a gain (Phil. 1:21), being with Christ (Phil. 1:23) or being at home with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). For Paul the deciding factor in his present situation was what was best for the Philippian believers. He believed that God would release him from prison so that he could remain with them for their progress and joy in the faith. Paul didn’t live for himself but for others.