It's interesting that Paul starts off his letters with greetings. Paul understands the importance of building relationships before he gets right to business. If Paul had just come out and said follow me for I follow Christ, he might have been seen as prideful. Paul understood that he had to build trust and be relational in order to be heard. This is something I struggle with alot of times. I can be quick to get things done and in the process I miss the relationships and I miss building that trust. The same is true with Mary and Martha. One saw the importance of being at the feet of Jesus, the other wanted to get straight to work. They show the extremes to a good degree that probably call for balance.

Philippians 1:1-2