Verse of the Day for December 30

Just before this passage, Paul names two women in the church at Philippi who were not getting along, Euodias and Syntyche. Then he asks a trusted friend to help those women which laboured with me in the gospel. They had worked side by side with him. Now they were stuck.

And right after that awkward request comes the most famous line in the letter. Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. The joy is not written to a calm church. It is written to a church with a quarrel in it.

Paul repeats himself. Again I say. Perhaps he expected them to read it once and think, not today, not with all this going on. So he says it twice.

Then: Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Moderation means gentleness, a willingness not to insist. And the reason is simple. The Lord is near. The quarrel is not the last word.

At the end of today, before you sleep, think of the person you clashed with. Do not replay the argument. Rejoice in the Lord, once and then again, and ask for gentleness for tomorrow. He is at hand, even in a dark bedroom.

Joy can be commanded in a room that is not yet at peace.

The Lord is at hand, so the argument is not the final word.