Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, any affection or mercy, 2:2 complete my joy and be of the same mind, by having the same love, being united in spirit, and having one purpose. 2:3 Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. 2:4 Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well.

In chapter two, we move from hope to something deeper and more substantial. In the first four verses leading up to Paul’s attempt at poetry, we come across some pretty amazing imperatives. They are heart-warming and yet each one of them hinges on a single phrase that, at least for mature believers, is easy to miss: “in Christ”. All the encouragement of faith, all the comfort of love, all fellowship affection and mercy are found only in our savior. Many people search their entire lives for the one person they cannot live without, but Christians have already found him.

This time of year there are a lot of engagements, and new romances just beginning, yet for believers we’ve already found that one person who completes us, Jesus the Christ. This is not to say we all ought to live celibate lives like a priest or a nun, only that we are already complete and able to give to that other person out the depth of God’s love. The world calls our spouse a “soul-mate”, a phrase that might have been derived from this very passage. In verse two, the phrase “united in spirit” (notice the small “s” – this is not the Holy Spirit), is a single Greek word meaning fellow-souled, or soul-mate. Paul applies it here to the church, we are all fellow-souled in Christ, but some of us are more so than others. That’s what a man or woman needs to look for, someone whom they are fellow-souled with in Jesus.

Okay, this isn’t a relationship column, but it does show that the Bible speaks to us in all areas of life, including the romantic ones. Just like a church, every relationship should strive for unity through humility. No church, or relationship, profits from selfish ambition or vanity. We need to treat them better than we treat ourselves, giving input, allegiance and assistance when appropriate to their interests and concerns. No one does this better than Jesus, our ultimate example. As we grow in our relationship with God, however, we can become an example ourselves. That’s what Paul wanted for his readers, and it’s what I want for mine too.

After this beautiful prelude, Paul turns his attention to writing a poem about the focus of our faith, the person of Jesus. We’ll look at that beautiful example of Greek literature tomorrow, as there isn’t room to do it justice today, but I challenge you to prepare yourself for it and Christmas (it is only a few weeks away now) be contemplating how you can humble yourself and exude the spirit of Christ all through the Christmas season.