I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Philippians 1-4

Paul writes here a passage which applies to more than just the context in which Paul writes it.  He writes about those who were inspired to preach the Gospel because of his imprisonment and those who preached the Gospel to make him jealous.  Paul did not care why they preached the Gospel, he only cared that they did so.  However, there is a more general application of this.  It does not matter why people do the right thing, God will use it to change the world.  But not only will God use it to change the world, the longer someone does the right thing for the wrong reasons the more God will change their hearts.  Understand that we will get more out of doing the right thing for the right reason than we will by doing the right thing for the wrong reason. 

I would like to write a lot on this passage, but I am working to limit how long I spend writing and keep this short.  So, I will touch on one more point.  Paul writes that he is torn between living and dying.  On the one hand, if he dies he will go to be with Christ and he deeply desired that.  On the other hand, he was convinced that as long as he lived he would be serving God, which he desired to do for as long as God chose to have him do so.  This brings to mind the last year of my Mom’s life.  She had spent her life serving others in any way she could, finding new ways to do so as she got older and unable to do things she had done when she was younger.  However, towards the end she suffered from dementia and had to move into skilled nursing care.  She was no longer able to do for others and this ate at her.  Every time I visited her, I prayed to God, asking why He did not take her home because I could not see how she could serve Him in her current state (although I knew she was in whatever ways that she could).  Then came the day she went into her final decline and it was obvious she would leave us in a few days.  I was at her bedside during shift change.  When the aid checked in at the start of the shift, I saw how heartbroken she was to witness that my Mom would die soon.  It was at that moment that I realized that my Mom had been serving God, even in her dementia when she had to be cared for, by showing God’s love to those who cared for her.