Time after Pentecost · Proper 21 · Year A
Philippians 2:1-4 (5-13, 14-18)
Imitating Christ’s Humility
September 27, 2026
Overview & Insights
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5)
Call for Mutual Consideration Paul’s concern for unity of mind and mutual consideration among the members of the Philippian church need not imply that there was an atmosphere of dissension there. The fact that two members are singled out by name and urged to agree in 4:2 could suggest (unless 4:2 belongs to an originally separate letter) that theirs was an exceptional case of conflict. We do not know what Epaphroditus had told Paul about the state of the church, but at this time Paul found sufficient evidence of quarrelsomeness and selfish ambition in some sectors of the Roman church to make him anxious that nothing of the sort should manifest itself at Philippi.
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Commentary
Commentary on Philippians 2:1-13 Working Preacher
The Lutheran home commentary on the call to humble, like-minded love.
Philippians 2:1-13 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching
A Reformed preaching commentary on humility as the core Christian virtue.
Philippians 2 - The Mind of Christ Enduring Word · David Guzik
A verse-by-verse evangelical study of unity, humility, and self-giving love.
Philippians Commentaries and Sermons Precept Austin
A gateway to inductive word studies and cross references across Philippians.
Philippians 2:1 Commentaries BibleHub
Classic commentaries gathered verse by verse on being of the same mind.
Philippians 2:1 Verse-by-Verse Commentary StudyLight
A large library of expositors stacked verse by verse for a further voice on the passage.
Background & Word Study
Philippians 2:1 Interlinear BibleHub
The Greek of the passage word by word with parsing and lexical helps.
Enter the Bible: Philippians Enter the Bible
Luther Seminary's book introduction to Philippians and its call to joy and unity.
Philippians Overview BibleProject
An animated overview of Paul's prison letter to the Philippians.
The Church Fathers
Questions preachers ask
What is the Christ hymn?
Philippians 2:6–11 is an early hymn: Christ, being in very nature God, emptied himself, took the form of a servant, and was obedient to death on a cross, and so God exalted him. Paul holds it up as the pattern for humble, self-giving love.
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