Philippians 1 Devotional

A Work God Will Finish

“being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”Philippians 1:6 (BSB)

Paul writes Philippians from chains, yet the letter opens with thanksgiving and joy. He is confident that the God who began a good work in these believers will carry it through to completion on the day of Christ Jesus (1:6). His imprisonment, he reports, has not stalled the gospel but advanced it. The whole palace guard knows why he is in chains, and other believers have grown bolder to speak (1:12-14). Even rivals preaching from selfish motives cannot stop Christ from being proclaimed (1:15-18).

Paul's confidence rests not on his circumstances but on God's purpose running through them. That is why he can say that living means Christ and dying means gain, since to depart is to be with Christ (1:21-23). He even tells the Philippians that suffering for Christ, like believing in him, has been granted to them as a gift (1:29). Whatever is unfinished in you, or in the situation you face today, the work belongs to God, and he does not abandon what he has begun.

To think about: What unfinished thing in your life could you entrust today to the God who completes what he begins?