What does Philippians 2:18 mean?

This verse extends Paul's joy in being used to serve others as an invitation to his readers. Just as Paul was glad and rejoiced, he wanted his readers to be glad as well. Verses 14–17 deal with some difficult, negative aspects of life Paul needed to address. Because his focus in this letter is positive, he quickly transitioned back to a positive tone of joy. Joy has been mentioned multiple times to this point in Paul's letter (Philippians 1:4, 18, 25; 2:2).

The next verse begins a section designed to bring joy to Paul's readers. The chapter also ends with a focus on joy (Philippians 2:29) and begins the next chapter with rejoicing (Philippians 3:1). Chapter 4 likewise emphasizes joy (Philippians 4:1), includes more emphasis on rejoicing (Philippians 4:4, 10) and ends with many positive greetings (Philippians 4:21–23). Joy was clearly an emphasis of his letter to the Philippians.