<p>4:12 <i>That you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing</i>- Paul perceived very clear boundaries between those in Christ, and all others &quot;who are outside&quot;. The commands of :11 were in order to make a witness to those &quot;outside&quot;, just as Paul had lived amongst them as he did so conscious that he was setting an example: &quot;&quot;You know what kind of men we were among you <i>for your sake</i>&quot;. &quot;Properly&quot; can also mean &quot;honestly&quot; (AV), and this would connect with them 'having lack of nothing'. The temptation in that kind of society would be to do what everyone else did, and practice petty dishonesty so that they could make ends meet. But by being honest, they would under God's providence &quot;lack nothing&quot;. But the Greek can equally mean &quot;that you may need no man&quot;. In :11 he has urged them to work with their own hands, and in this case, his argument would be that they then would have no need of asking support from others. Paul returns to this issue in 2 Thess. 3, where he openly states that some of them were asking for help but refused to work. Paul's great love for this group is the more notable, seeing that he speaks so highly of them all as a group, and having worked night and day, despite having been beaten in Philippi just beforehand, in order to get enough to eat during the three weeks he was with them.</p>