“Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His Lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.”
Matthew 25:24-27 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/mat.25.24-27.KJV
Every Good Thing We Share
In Philemon 1:6, Paul says, “I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.”
When Paul writes this to Philemon, he’s not just sending a theological essay. He’s writing a personal letter to a close friend and fellow believer.
Paul is encouraging Philemon not only to embrace the truth of the gospel but to live it out in community. Their “partnership” wasn’t just a casual friendship, it was a mutual commitment to living for Christ, growing in understanding, and making the love of Jesus visible in the way they treated others. In this case, Paul is urging Philemon to welcome back his former servant Onesimus—not as a servant, but as a brother and co-laborer in Christ.
Today, we still need partnerships like this. Following Jesus was never meant to be a solo journey. We grow deeper in our understanding of the gospel when we engage in authentic ...