FBC Gridley

We're all going to find ourselves down in this world. Sometimes we fall down, and sometimes we're knocked down, but it's a lot easier to go through those difficulties if we have a friend who will pick us up and join our hands.

The wise man King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 4, Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

How many times have you heard people say, “I just never could have made it through if it weren't for my friends helping me out,” or “I had problems and the people in the church rallied to my side; they just wouldn't let me quit”?

​

Paul's focus wasn't on himself all the time. Even though he was experiencing hardship, he gave more attention to the needs of others than his own.

That single attribute, more than anything else, explains why Paul was reinforced by other people. If that quality is developed in our lives, we will be sustained by others too.

So, let's look at this passage carefully because it reveals three practical principles about how we can care for other people.

​

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Philippians 2:3-4

​

​