Philippians 2:3

3. Exhortation to self-forgetting love, Philippians 2:3-18.

3. Strife… vainglory Here appears the real evil at which the apostle strikes, though this and the following verses are a continued expansion of the like-minded of the preceding verse. Heretical doctrines have made no inroad upon them, as in Galatia, nor is the Church torn by internal factions, as at Corinth; but certain opinionated, conceited, self-seeking individuals, confident of their own comparative excellences, and inconsiderate of others, were pushing themselves forward into prominence and high positions for selfish ends. They were bound to be first against all odds. Two or three such men in a Church of as many hundreds are often enough to destroy its power.

Strife Party spirit.

Vainglory Empty pride. A better spirit is lowliness, that true humility which, reversing the too common practice, is severe toward one’s own failings and lenient toward those of others, discovering their excellences and covering their defects.