Honour leaders by living like them

In Philippians 2:29, Paul gives the Philippians two commands. These would not be hard commands, not with Epaphroditus. They will receive him in the Lord with joy. The second command is not limited to just Epaphroditus. It is, Honor such men. There are more Epaphrodituses out there, more Timothys too! But how do we honour such men? The word honour here is connected with words like precious and valuable. So we esteem them highly because of the precious and valuable work and service they provide to the church. We also honour such men—and this is crucial—by living like them. That is why Paul includes a description of these men in the first place. When you honour and respect someone, you want to be like them because you see gifts in them, character traits that you want to have. What a way, then, to honour such men! And by honouring them, we are also honouring Christ and imitating him (1 Corinthians 11:1). This is the ultimate purpose the Holy Spirit, through Paul, gave these portraits of these men!