Look at the brighter side

There were sweet and bitter moments in the missionary work of St. Paul. Philippi was a successful station through and through. This city gave Paul many fond memories as well as sustained support. It is beneficial for us to review Paul's work in Philippi as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.
From Antioch, Paul took Silas to embark on his secondary missionary journey (Acts 15:40). He visited the churches he had established in his previous journey. In Lystra, Timothy joined him (Acts 16:3). While they failed to enter Bithynia (Acts 16:7), they turned to Troas (Acts 16:8). In Troas, Luke, the author joined the party and Paul had a vision bidding him to preach in Macedonia (Acts 16:10). From then on, we-passages appear in Acts.
They reached Philippi, converted a rich lady merchant, Lydia (Acts 16:14). Paul exorcised a spirit of divination from a slave girl (Acts 16:18). Her owners were angry because the slave girl was no longer able to earn money for them. They made the city magistrates put Paul and Silas in prison. At night, an earthquake erupted and all the prison doors were opened. Yet, no prisoners escaped. But the jailer, seeing the doors opened, thought that all had run away. Therefore, he intended to kill himself. Paul stopped him and uttered the following famous line which the Protestants love to quote:
Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household (Acts 16:31).
Later, the city magistrates came to apologize and release them (Acts 16:39). Paul visited Lydia, saw the brethren and continued his journey.
From the epistles collected in the New Testament, we see that not all churches were beds of roses. Some of them troubled the heart of St. Paul a lot. Paul was not able to go there in person. He relied on the epistles to reach them and teach them. Paul always began his epistles in praises and thanksgiving prayers. I think it is more than convention. Paul tried to think positively for them so that they were able to see themselves in a more positive manner. For example,
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world (Romans 1:8)
I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him with all speech and all knowledge (1 Corinthians 1:4-5)
Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort (2 Corinthians 1:7).
For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints,
I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers (Ephesians 1:15-16)
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,
always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,
thankful for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now (Philippians 1:3-5).
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,
because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have for all the saints (Colossians 1:3-4)
We give thanks to God always for you all, constantly mentioning you in our prayers,
remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3).
We are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, as is fitting, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing (2 Thessalonians 1:3).
The epistle to the Galatians seems to be the only exception. After saying a thanksgiving prayer, Paul began to scold them.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and turning to a different gospel (Galatians 1:6)
Let's focus on the Philippians. They were very dearly for Paul.
It is right for me to feel thus about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel (Philippians 1:7).
As a teacher, we try our best to win over as many students as possible. However, sometimes, some of them can be very disheartening. Still, we need to cheer ourselves up. How shall we do it? Learn from Paul. It is easy to see people's mistakes and more demanding in see their merits. Still, we need to.

My dear Advocate, Jesus has promised us that when we help the needy, we will be able to get in touch with him. Help me see You in the students I teach. Amen.