Philippians 2:26 - A get-out-of-selfishness-free card? Um, no...

"(I thought it necessary to send Epaphroditus to you)...since he was being yearning upon all you all and distressing, because you all heard that he was strengthless."

-Here we have yet another example of others-first others-better.  Epaphroditus had been sick, and HE was concerned about the believers in philippi because they heard he was sick.  In fact he was very sick at one point, but now having recovered he had the presence of mind to realize that his home assembly was concerned about how he was doing and he wanted to aleviate their concerns.  HE was the one who had suffered, but he was thinking about the feelings of others, actually distressing about them.  'Distressing' is what Jesus was doing in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26.37), so understand that Paul is not just describing some mild concern here... 

-So often when we are sick or suffering in some way we sort of get the feeling that we are then entitled to turn off the others-first button and revert to me-first thinking.  Woe is me, minister to me, take care of me and my needs and my wants.  It’s as if we think we’ve been given a get-out-of-selfishness-free card, a pass for indulging in a little (or a lot of) self-centeredness.  Paul was in prison, Epaphroditus was sick - somehow this was not the case for them.  It’s as if they actually were able to tap into the secret of being content in all circumstances and of doing all things through Christ Who gives us strength.  And that’s not to say that they didn’t have needs and didn’t allow others to take care of them while they were sick or in prison, and yet we see in the midst of that they both were still able to live - really live - into an others-first mindset.