Thinking the Same Thing, Having the Same Love

 Bible Verses 

Phil 2:2  Make my joy full, that you think the same thing, 

having the same love, joined in soul, thinking the one thing.

3:8 But moreover I also count all things to be loss on 

account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my 

Lord, on account of whom I have suffered the loss of all 

things and count them as refuse that I may gain Christ.

                          Words of Ministry 

                 The way the Philippians could make Paul's joy full was to 

                      think the same thing, even the one thing (2:2). According to 

                         the context of the entire book, the one thing must refer to 

                                                               the subjective knowledge of Christ and experience of Christ 

                                                                    (1:20-21; 2:5; 3:7-9; 4:13). Christ, and Christ alone, should 

                                                         be the centrality and universality of our entire being. Our 

                                                     thinking should be focused on the excellency of the knowledge 

                                        of Christ and the experience of Christ. Anything else causes 

us to think differently and thus creates dissensions among 

us.

What troubled Paul in his imprisonment was the dissension 

among the Philippians. The saints in Philippi were good, and 

the church in that city had been well established. However, 

there was dissension among them. Although they were one in 

spirit, they were not striving together with one soul. 

Although they all loved the Lord, they were not thinking the 

same thing. This caused Paul's heart to be heavy. Out of 

heaviness of heart, he appealed to the Philippians to make 

his joy full by being joined in soul and by thinking the same 

thing.

Thinking the same thing is related to having the same love. 

Paul's word in verse 2 about "having the same love" indicates 

that, because of their dissenting thinking, the Philippian 

believers had different levels of love. They did not have the 

same love toward all the saints for the keeping of oneness. 

                      It is possible that we in the church life today may not have 

                            the same love for all the saints. Instead, our love may be on 

                                     different levels. We may love a certain brother much more 

                                      than we love another brother. Because we may love a 

particular brother only to a small degree, we may not be 

inclined to render much service to him. But because we love 

another brother to a very high degree, we may serve him too 

much and even spoil him by our love. It is possible in the 

church life to have different levels of love for different 

saints. If this is our situation, our love is not the love 

with one soul. We have one kind of soul when we love one 

brother, but a different kind of soul when we love another 

brother. As a result, instead of practical oneness, there 

will be dissension.