Devotions: My Prayer for You

 

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:9-11 New American Standard Bible

 

Paul is writing this letter from prison to the Philippian church. His prayer for them (and for others as seen in other letters) is for their love for others to grow. That is something we all need. It is not possible to love too much as long as that love is genuine and based on the truth. We need to grow in the knowledge of God and His will and understanding. We need discernment so that we can tell what is worthy and what is not. That way we will be sincere, genuine, and without offense while we are on this earth. This is important, not just for our well being, but much more for our witness and testimony as ambassadors for God. Others judge God by what they see in us, and they need to see genuine love, truth, and discernment. So many are turned away from Christ because His people are offensive. This is not referencing the offense many feel to the truth, for that is natural and unavoidable. The problem is when others are offended by the ungodly attitudes and actions they see in us; when we are greedy, selfish, arrogant, argumentative, self righteous, and judgmental. But they will be drawn to those who are genuine, loving and gracious. All of this is the fruit of Jesus’ righteousness working in us. We cannot conjure it up on our own. We have to submit our lives to Him, seek His will and work in our lives, repent when we sin, and desire to be more like Him. It is a gradual, continuous process that comes from a heart that loves God, a heart that seeks to praise and glorify Him. That is the end goal and motivation for all of this.

I pray this for you, that your love may grow through the knowledge of God, that you gain discernment so you can be sincere and without offense because you seek after the righteousness of God for His glory. Amen.

 

 

I apologize for being “silent” on here for the last couple of weeks. We were traveling longer than I anticipated and I have been under the weather since.

 

 

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Translations of Greek and Hebrew words taken from blueletterbible.org