From prison in Rome, Paul writes about how his imprisonment has actually served to advance the Gospel. Through being chained to rotating guards from the elite Praetorian Guard, Paul had unique opportunities to share Christ. Even when others began preaching Christ from wrong motives like envy and rivalry, Paul still rejoiced because Christ was being proclaimed. His response demonstrates putting the Gospel’s advance above personal comfort or recognition, showing how to find joy in Christ being made known regardless of circumstances.
The book of Philippians is unique in that Paul’s words continually move back to being centered in joy. There is a constant in all of our seasons of life: Jesus reigns over created order and in this life, we will experience hardship. The way to walk in joy through all of our seasons of life is to have it centered in the constancy of knowing Jesus (Phil 2:6-8) who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. We know that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord (Phil 2:11).