I was just having another look at St Paul’s letter to the followers of Jesus in Philippi and noticed that well known phrase ‘I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength’ (Philippians 4:13). It’s one of those verses that gets isolated regularly and used as a motivational line to say that we can do anything because Christ enables us, but is that what it’s really saying?

The interpretation of the verse is important. Is it supposed to say ‘I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (I can do everything)’ or ‘I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength’? Both are used across various English translations of the Bible. Both can be read quite differently. The former (I can do all things through Christ) easily lends itself to being isolated as a motivational verse to tell us we can do anything as it sounds like a definitive statement, whereas the latter demands context to tell us what ‘this’ is. The former is also roughly how it was translated in the 1984 edition of the NIV and the latter is how it is translated in the new NIV. I come down on the side of the latter because I think it has something important to say.

The isolation of the idea that I can do anything and everything because Jesus strengthens me puts the reader at the center and proposes that I can be great because God can make me so – at least, I think that’s how the verse is often used. The other rendering proposes something different because of its demand for context.

The preceding verses give the context and it’s summed up well in the latter part of verse 11 and verse 12:

‘…I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.’ (NIV)

Eugene Peterson translated it like this in The Message:

‘Actually, I don’t have a sense of needing anything personally. I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.’ (MSG)

Paul had experienced all the ups and downs of life and what he was saying was that through the strength of Christ he had come to a place where he was content in any circumstances.

I love that. It’s rich and applicable to all of life, not just the pursuit of success and being able to achieve anything we want. It (Philippians 4:13) says ‘you know what, because of God I can be content no matter what life throws at me. I don’t need the biggest and best, I don’t need to be somebody, I don’t need to live in the lap of luxury. God makes me and that’s it.’ Wonderful. It offers a peace that transcends our circumstances and it says that God is with us in all of it – the highs and lows, the ups and downs, the beauty and the mess.

It’s not an easy thing to settle on, especially when the tough things in life are being thrown our way. the only way to get to that place of peace is to find the seat of our identity in God and there are number of practices we can encourage in our lives to open ourselves to the transforming work of God to move us in that direction.

That said, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts. How do you read it?