Today's reading is the book of Philemon. Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy, our brother, to Philemon, our beloved fellow worker, to Apphia, our sister, to Archippus, our fellow soldier, and to the church that meets at your house, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I always thank my God remembering you in my prayers because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. I pray that your partnership in the faith may become effective as you fully acknowledge every good thing that is ours in Christ. I take great joy and encouragement in your love because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints. So although in Christ I am bold enough to order you to do what is proper, I prefer to appeal on the basis of love. For I, Paul, am now aged and a prisoner of Christ Jesus as well. I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I became while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me. I am sending back to you him who is my very heart. I would have liked to keep him with me, so that on your behalf he could minister to me in my chains for the gospel. But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that your goodness will not be out of compulsion, but by your own free will. For perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a while, that you might have him back for good, no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a beloved brother. He is especially beloved to me. but even more so to you, both in person and in the Lord. So if you consider me a partner, receive him as you would receive me. But if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge it to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand. I will repay it, not to mention that you owe me your very self. Yes, brother, let me have some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask. In the meantime, prepare a guest room for me, because I hope that through your prayers I will be restored to you. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. This is God's Word. This is yet another of Paul's prison letters, as we saw in verse 1, which says Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ. Verses 1b-2 tell us the recipients of this letter, who were Philemon, Apphia, who is almost certainly Philemon's wife, she's called our sister, and Archippus, who is possibly the son of Philemon and Apphia. When we take this mention of Archippus and compare it to Colossians 4.17, which says, tell Archippus, see to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord, we begin to see that Philemon lived in Colossae. This family was not the only recipient of this letter, however, for the last part of verse 2 says, and the church that meets at your home. Although Paul has a couple of big, generous things to ask of Philemon, he did not want his request to overwhelm the people too much. In verses 4-7 then, Paul describes his prayers for Philemon and the others. Then in verses 8-19, Paul got to the core of the letter to ask Philemon to forgive his runaway slave Onesimus. We see that in verses 17-19. After he forgave Onesimus, Paul then wanted Philemon to free Onesimus so that he could serve with Paul and travel with him. But the verse that intrigues me in this chapter most is verse 6, which in the NIV says, Paul considered Philemon a partner because of his faithful giving to God's work, according to verse 7. But here in verse 6, Paul prayed for a spiritual benefit to come to Philemon. That benefit was that the partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. Again, that's the NIV's translation. In other words, what Paul wanted was for Philemon's financial support and prayer investment in Paul's ministry to strengthen Philemon's faith. He wanted Philemon to know God better as a result of his partnership with Paul's ministry. Have you ever considered that serving the Lord and giving to his work could actually be good for you spiritually? Not only do others benefit from this kind of partnership, but you benefit because it deepens your understanding of Christ and his mission. So I have to ask, what is your level of spiritual growth? Did it peak when you were called to be saved, or is it growing? If you feel that you are stuck and not growing, then you need to find a place to serve. Serving Christ, investing in his kingdom, is helpful to your spiritual life. So find a place to serve if you don't already have one. and watch how your understanding of God, his goals, and his people will all grow as a result. So I hope you'll think about where you're serving and find a place to serve if you're not. Hope you have a great day. God bless you.