And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. – Philippians 1:9
That is some sentence! You sure do get a bang for your buck when it comes to reading one of Paul’s sentences. He had a way of packing in a lot of incredible, life-changing information between periods. Let’s take a closer look at this amazing one found in Paul’s letter to the Philippian church by breaking it down.
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more… Paul’s prayer for this church is that they would have a love that grows. How often do we think of love as something that grows. We either have it for someone or something or we don’t. Right?! Well, yeah, that is not exactly the way love as defined by God works. As a matter of fact, not much of what the world teaches us about love does.
… with knowledge and all discernment… This is not the ambiguous, indefinable, feel-good love of the 21st century. Love that hits us over the head as unexpectedly as it slips out the door 7 years later when one or the other partner is no longer “happy”. It’s the real deal. It’s a love that is informed by truth, the truth of God revealed in scripture. It is therefore not relativistic. This real love is guided by truth, by what is right and wrong, something not so popular these days.
… so that you may approve what is excellent… A discerning love that is informed by truth will lead us in the right direction! It will help us know how to respond in even the most difficult situations we face. It will know when to be gentle and patient and it will know when to be tough and firm. It will show us when to give and when to hold back. It will teach us when we should speak and teach us when we should hold our tongue. Life can be a confusing mess, who doesn’t need more of this kind of love that leads in the excellent way?!
… and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ… Having love informed by truth is not just a nice idea, it is so, so important! It guides us to the excellent path where our decisions and behavior please God, preparing us for the return of Christ. We can not be sanctified, become more like Jesus, any other way. This is what God desires for all of his precious children!
…filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ… This is the plan God designed for his children, me and you, to bear the fruit of righteousness (to have lives that look like Jesus). There is no other way to grow in Christ outside of informed, discerning love. Of course, any righteousness in us ultimately comes through Jesus Christ. It is him at work in us from the first day of surrender to him until our last day on earth. Therefore Paul so appropriately ends the sentence with…
… to the glory and praise of God… Yeah, any righteousness in us is not our own doing, it’s Jesus’. We can’t take the credit. God gets all the glory and praise. And everybody can say “Amen”!
Praying our love grows in knowledge and discernment!
xx,
Lauren
p.s. I would love to hear how this verse impacted you! Or, how it connects to something God has been teaching you.
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