Epaphras, who’s from your community and who’s a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He’s always praying hard for you, that you’ll stand firm in the will of God and that you’ll be confident and mature.
So he had to be made like them—fully human in every way. That way he could serve God as a merciful and faithful high priest and purify the people from their sins.
But I think it’s necessary to send Epaphroditus back to you now. He’s my brother in the Lord, and he’s a worker and a soldier for Christ together with me. He’s also your messenger, because you sent him to take care of my needs.
Are they serving Christ? I’m serving him even more. (I’m out of my mind to talk like this!) I’ve worked much harder. I’ve been in prison more often. I’ve suffered terrible beatings. Again and again I’ve almost died.
If you point out these things to the brothers and sisters, you will be serving Christ Jesus well. You’ll show that you’ve been strengthened by the truths of the faith and by the good teaching you’ve obeyed.
Now let me speak to those who are engaged. I don’t have a direct command from the Lord for you. But I’d like to give my opinion as someone who, by the Lord’s mercy, can be trusted.
That’s the reason why I’ve sent Timothy to you. He’s like a son to me, and I love him. He’s faithful in serving the Lord. He’ll remind you of the way I live as a servant of Christ Jesus. I myself follow what I teach everywhere in all the churches.
“His master replied, ‘You’ve done well, good and faithful slave! Because you’ve been faithful with a few things, I’m going to put you in charge of many things. Come, share your master’s happiness!’
“Suppose a master puts one of his slaves in charge of the other slaves and tells him to give them their food at the right time. The master would want to choose a faithful and wise slave to do that.