TODAY IN THE WORD
Everyone in China has a file of documents that comprises their official identity. They include university diplomas, grades, test scores, and work evaluations. Because of their value, they are locked up tight in government offices. But two years ago, the documents belonging to Xue Longlong “vanished,” supposedly lost when files were moved from one floor of a government building to another. He believes that corrupt officials sold the files to people looking for fresh starts and better jobs. Without a file, he has only been able to get positions serving drinks and selling real estate door-to-door. His fiancée left him, and his mother had a nervous breakdown. Many such cases of identity theft have been reported across China.

Fortunately for us, our identity in Christ is in safer hands, a truth undergirding today’s reading from Philippians, often called the “epistle of joy.” The “if” phrases in verse 1 are not really conditionals, because the conditions are not uncertain. “If” here serves as rhetorical device, more like “since” or “because.” We don’t need to think about whether or not we have “any encouragement from being united with Christ” or “any comfort from his love”—we know we do!

We also have fellowship with His Holy Spirit and a Christ-like ability to show compassion. Because we are united with Christ, we should be united in Christ, demonstrating a oneness of love, spirit, and purpose. We should not live based on pride and selfish ambition, but rather within the body of Christ we should be humbly putting His glory and others’ needs ahead of our own (vv. 2-4).

The hinge phrase is “make my joy complete” (v. 2). By living in a manner worthy of the gospel, the Philippians could bring joy to the Lord as well as to Paul. Their unity, humility, and selflessness would stimulate or fill up his joy, representing a kind of completion of his efforts to plant a church and disciple them as new believers.

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TODAY ALONG THE WAY
Valentine’s Day is about love, which the world often represents as chubby cupids shooting arrows of romance into lucky people’s hearts. Love from a Christian perspective, however, is all about the humility and attitude of service found in today’s passage. What if we as believers made this holiday a day for expressing our love in Christ for one another? Perhaps one or more of our Valentine’s Day cards could be a “timely word” (Prov. 15:23) to a fellow believer who could use some encouragement.

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