Inspire Bible for Girls: The Bible for Coloring & Creative Journaling - Flipbook - Page 7
PHILIPPIANS
Greetings from Paul
This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus.
I am writing to all of God’s holy people in Philippi who belong to
Christ Jesus, including the church leaders* and deacons.
2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
1
Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer
time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. 4 Whenever I pray, I
make my requests for all of you with joy, 5 for you have been my partners
in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it
until now. 6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within
you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ
Jesus returns.
7 So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a
special place in my heart. You share with me the special favor of God, both
in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good
News. 8 God knows how much I love you and long for you with the tender
compassion of Christ Jesus.
9 I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will
keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want you to
understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless
lives until the day of Christ’s return. 11 May you always be filled with the fruit
of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus
Christ*—for this will bring much glory and praise to God.
3 Every
Paul’s Joy That Christ Is Preached
I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters,* that everything
that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. 13 For
everyone here, including the whole palace guard,* knows that I am in chains
because of Christ. 14 And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers* here have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message* without
fear.
15 It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others
preach about Christ with pure motives. 16 They preach because they love
me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News. 17 Those
others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach
with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more
painful to me. 18 But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or
genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice.
And I will continue to rejoice. 19 For I know that as you pray for me and the
Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance.
12 And
Paul’s Life for Christ
20 For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will
continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that
my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. 21 For to me, living
means living for Christ, and dying is even better. 22 But if I live, I can do
Fun Facts
ÌÌ
Philippians is known for
how warm and personal
it is; it’s like Paul is
writing the believers
in Philippi a thank-you
note.
ÌÌ
Lydia was the first
person to become a
Christian in Philippi;
she and her whole
household were
baptized and probably
started the first house
church there (Acts
16:13-15).
ÌÌ
Paul was imprisoned
in Rome when he
wrote this letter to the
Philippians (1:7, 13;
4:22).
ÌÌ
Paul expresses great
joy in writing to the
Philippians—“joy”
appears 7 times and
“rejoice” is used 6 times
in this brief letter!
ÌÌ
Epaphroditus carried
gifts to Paul from the
Philippians, and Paul
sent Epaphroditus back
to the Philippians with
his letter for them (2:2530; 4:18).
1:1 Or overseers, or bishops. 1:11 Greek with the fruit of righteousness through Jesus Christ.
1:12 Greek brothers. 1:13 Greek including all the Praetorium. 1:14a Greek brothers in the Lord.
1:14b Some manuscripts read speak the message.
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