The God Who Finishes What He Starts

When I wrote to my friends at Philippi, I began not as a master but as a servant: "Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi" (Philippians 1:1). Note where I placed them — not in Philippi first, but in Christ Jesus. That is a man's truest address. You live in a house, a city, an age, and these things press hard upon you; but if you are his, your deepest dwelling is in him, and no chain and no winter can evict you from it. And I called them saints — not because they had arrived, but because he had claimed them. Grace comes first. It always comes first.

I told them the plain truth of my heart: "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you" (Philippians 1:3), and I could hardly speak of them without joy. Why such joy? Because of "your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now" (Philippians 1:5). They had not merely admired the gospel; they had thrown in their lot with it, shared my burdens, stood with me in my chains. And this stirred in me a settled confidence — hear it, for it is the beating heart of these lines: "he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). Mark that God began it. You did not summon your own new birth, and you will not sustain it by your own grip. The One who started will finish. Your perseverance rests not on the strength of your holding but on the faithfulness of his.

So do not read your own falterings as the last word. If you are weary, if you have stumbled again, if you fear you are too weak to make it home — the work is his, and he does not abandon what he begins. This is no excuse to grow slack; it is the ground on which you rise and press on. And see what such love does: it prays. I longed for them "with the affection of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:8), and my prayer was "that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment" (Philippians 1:9). Love is not enough left blind; it must have eyes. Grow in it, that you may "approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ" (Philippians 1:10).

And how does such fruit come? Look at the last words and do not miss them: "filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God" (Philippians 1:11). Through him. Not squeezed out of your own root, but borne on his. So today, whatever state you are in, lift your eyes from your weakness to the God who finishes what he starts, and ask him to make your love overflow. He hears. He began. He will complete it.

Grace and peace to you.