“And 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” (Philippians 1:12 NLT).
The apostle Paul wrote this letter to the church at Philippi from his jail cell in Rome. He wrote to encourage his gospel partners, so that they would see that his chains were actually increasing the advance of the Good News. He noted that the gospel had become evident to the whole imperial guard and to everyone else because they knew he was in chains because of Christ. Rather than seeing his gospel preaching as limited by his chains, he saw them as an opportunity to reach Caesar’s palace guard while they imprisoned him. It seemed that Paul’s perspective was always centered on the gospel.
Do you have a gospel perspective? Having received the gospel, do you recognize its life-giving power? Does the gospel color your perspective on every circumstance, so that you look for every opportunity as a gospel opportunity?
PRAYER: Dear Father, forgive us for having such a myopic perspective, always looking for our own comfort. Teach us to see our circumstances from Your perspective, always looking for gospel opportunities. Give us Your holy boldness for the work. In Jesus’ name, amen.