4 Essentials

1. Living in Harmony (vss.2-3)
2. Willingness to Forbear (vss.4-5)
3. Praying with Gratitude (vss.6-7)
4. Concentration on Excellence (vss.8-9)

“Two women in the church at Philippi have apparently been carrying on a long-standing feud. Paul specifically addresses these two women by name…The sad thing about Euodia and Synteche is that they had let a personal grievance disrupt the assembly in Philippi and refused reconciliation with each other. To the point that the news about their quarrel had spread from Philippi all the way over to Rome where Paul was. We do not know who these women were, we do not know what their conflict was about, the only thing we know is that their disunity threatened the testimony of the body and needed dealing with.”

- Dr. J. Dwight Pentecost
The Joy of Living

“One out of every 5 civil lawsuits involves one Christian taking another Christian to court. The world sees this and remembers our actions rather than our words. We are the bible that people read and unfortunately so oftentimes our lives do not line up with the Word we say we follow. Reconciliation takes guts and humility and it means that Christians have to admit that they aren’t perfect and they aren’t always right. Not hiding behind a spiritual fascade, not ignoring the Word. The Word says to be reconciled, that means a Christian might have to expose his or her faults to another—that is hard to do. And yet in the church I attend we have set up a ministry to help Christians reconcile their disputes, and it has worked well, sometimes to the amazement of us all.”

Forbearance…
“Fair-mindedness, An attitude of charity towards others, Mercifulness in judgment of other’s failings”

“Her actions, changed her feelings, her motion resulted in emotion, the ability to love is established not so much by fervent promises, as often as by repeated choices.”