Philippians 2:5Plain English VersionYou have to think the same way that Jesus Christ thought. See the chapter |
Then God gave Jesus the Holy Spirit, and he gave him power to do his special work. Jesus was from a town called Nazareth, and he went everywhere doing good things. Some people were sick, and the devil, the boss over the bad spirits, was giving them big trouble. But Jesus made them all better. You see, God was with him.
I did everything in a way that showed you that we all have to work hard to get enough money, not just for ourselves, but to give some to people that don’t have the things they need. We have to remember that our leader, Jesus, said, ‘If people give things to you, that can make you a bit happy. But if you give things to other people, you will be properly happy.’ ”
Sometimes you might know that something is all right, so you think you will eat it. But if you know that another Christian will get upset when you eat it, then don’t eat it. Leave it. If you love other Christians, you will not do things that hurt them. Remember, Jesus Christ died for those people, so don’t eat that food. You know that it is all right to eat it, but leave it anyway. Then nobody will blame you.
I want God, the father of our leader, Jesus Christ, to do that for you. He is the one that can cheer people up, and he keeps them going. I’m asking him to help you follow Jesus Christ properly so that you all live happy together like one family. Then you will all thank him and say that he is really good.
Always love other people, just like Jesus Christ loves us. He loved us so much that he took our payback, and he died instead of us. You know how people used to kill animals and burn them, to give them to God, for the good smell to make him happy. Well, just like those animals, Jesus died. When Jesus died, he gave himself to God. Jesus did that because he loved you. So you have to love other people too.
I am Paul, and this letter is from me, and it is from Timothy too, because he is helping me write it. We work all the time for Jesus Christ. We are sending this letter to all God’s special people at Philippi, you people that belong to Jesus Christ. We are writing to you Christian leaders, and to you church helpers, and to all you Christians.