God’s Word for You

Philippians 2:4 The debt of love

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Monday, March 9, 2026

Paul has been teaching us that self-denial is expected of Christians. He will give the ultimate example from the life of Christ beginning with verse 5, but first he has one more thing to say about the self-denial of the individual Christian:

4 not with everyone looking after their own interests, but also the interests of others.

When everyone looks after their own concerns or plans, then almost everyone gets trampled on, important and valuable ideas get ignored, and the needs of the weak and the vulnerable are not met (“You have oppressed the alien and mistreated the fatherless and the widow,” Ezekiel 22:7). This follows after Paul’s command to humbly “consider others to be better than yourselves” (verse 3).

There is a question about the text in the second part of the verse. Most witnesses have “but also the interests of others.” However, a few manuscripts and other witness do not have the conjunction καὶ “also.” This makes the sentence say, “not with everyone looking after their own interests, but (instead) the interests of others.” This is a minority reading (but includes Luther’s translation), and almost certainly not what Paul wrote, but it presents an interesting application: As we look after the needs of others, as well as their other interests, we set our own needs and desires aside. Isn’t this just what our Savior did? Which of his own desires did Jesus insist upon? Even when he tried to get away from the crowds to pray, if they found him, he would not sigh or scold them or tell them to go away. He would set aside his own desire and begin to teach them and heal them and do other miracles.

Some translations are phrased in such a way as to imply that we should “pay attention to the things (matters) of others.” This doesn’t mean that we should spy on our neighbor, keeping track of who visits him, enters his house, how long they stay, what his business is all about, and other things that veer between gossip and McCarthyism. Not long ago, a man could be hauled before Congress based on his magazine and newspaper subscriptions. Today, how would prosecutors or political candidates feel if their browser history was published for the world to see? When there is sin in a person’s life, how should it be handled? Jesus lays this out in Matthew 18: “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector” (Matthew 18:15-17). I condense this passage for my confirmation classes into a little poem (well, let’s call it a rhyme):

First you go, then two go;
If that leaves you in the lurch, take it to the church.

But Paul’s point in this verse is not about the sins of our neighbor, but rather their needs. We are told to set aside our preferences, our political views, our different parenting styles, our selfishness, our own self-interest, and truly look only to the needs that people have.

Paul is not telling us to forever neglect our own needs and affairs. “The rule given in Paradise” Wenzel wisely states, “that ‘in the sweat of his face man shall eat his bread’ would be against such an interpretation” (p. 64). Instead, we should understand this verse in terms of how we use the Ninth and Tenth Commandments as a guide for Christian living. Luther explains these final commandments based on Numbers 33:54, Job 31:9; Proverbs 1:10, 12:10, and other passages: “We should fear and love God that we do not scheme to get our neighbor’s inheritance or house, or obtain it by a show of right, but do all we can to help him keep it,” and again, “We should fear and love God that we do not force or entice away our neighbor’s spouse, workers, or animals, but urge them to stay and do their duty.” Here Paul’s words rise up to the surface as clear as a yellow bobber in the lake: “Everyone (should be) looking after their own interests, and also the interests of others.” The debt we owe to each other is love (Romans 13:8). Pay it back every chance you get.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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