"Abounding prosperity and devastating hardship - Paul has certainly experienced each, and he wants his friends to know that he has been able to take each in stride because of the companionship of Jesus Christ. One of the hallmarks of Christian integrity and personal integration is that circumstances lose their overwhelming power over us. Our self-image and sense of security no longer are tied to the things that happen to us. Events are important, but for Paul something is more important and he has learned it by experience.
"Most people who are confused and harmed by abundance or loss are the ones who confer permanence on either. But the fact is that at the heart of the existence of each of us is something of far greater durability and importance. It is Jesus Christ, the companion of our way, who outlasts both extremes as well as any degree of abundance and abasement in between - they are merely way stations on our journey. Paul can enjoy a steak and lobster without any problem at all, and he accepts the shipwreck, too. He is not too impressed by extravagance, which is nice once in a while, or by intense abuse, which is hard to take but, like abundance, is not the last word. That is Paul's secret."
- Earl Palmer, Integrity in a World of Pretense, p. 170-171 (regarding Phil. 4:12-13)
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