Friends Put Friends First

While the apostle Paul was in Rome, he became concerned

about the people of the church at Philippi and wanted to know
how they were doing. He couldn’t go there because he was
under house arrest. Timothy was the only one available that Paul
could send to them who would truly care for them without any
selfishness. All the others were concerned about themselves.
The Philippians knew Timothy’s clear testimony and how he
had served with Paul in the gospel just as a son serves with his
father. Paul was hoping to send Timothy soon, expecting that he
would bring back encouraging news about them. Paul was also
looking forward to being able to go to Philippi himself soon.
Timothy was a good friend who faithfully served Christ.
Epaphroditus was another friend of Paul’s. The church of
Philippi had sent him to Rome to minister to Paul. While serving
Paul, Epaphroditus had become so sick that he almost died. The
believers in Philippi heard about his illness and had become
quite concerned about their friend. Knowing how concerned
they were for him, Epaphroditus was troubled. Paul thought that
it would be best to send Epaphroditus back to Philippi to
encourage the church.
Since Epaphroditus had almost died while serving Christ,
Paul spoke highly of him. He told the church to rejoice with
Epaphroditus and honor him when he arrived. Both Timothy and
Epaphroditus were good friends of Paul’s who faithfully served
Jesus Christ.