LEARNING DAILY

Philippians 1:9-11, And this I pray, that your love may abound still more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of the righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

This is the last page of the blog for 2023. It is really difficult to believe that another year has flown by. I have to be honest. I was not sure we would see this day come as I thought Believers would be raptured and in eternity with the Lord Jesus. But we are still here. I want to end the year with some thoughts to, hopefully, encourage and challenge you as we approach the new year.

I use Paul’s prayer above to pray each of us grow in our several areas of our spiritual lives – our love, our knowledge, our discernment, and our works of righteousness.

The Greek word Paul uses for love is agape which means a selfless, sacrificial concern for the benefit of others. The people of Philippi had a reputation regarding their love for others; Paul writes that he wants to see the effectiveness of this love “abound still more”. No doubt Paul wants the Philippians to grow in their love for one another. Could he be writing, praying that their love for God to grow more and more? His writing certainly indicates that the people loved God, but what would happen if their love for Him grew deeper, their faith became stronger, their walk on a narrow way became one of embracing more and more of His kingdom now?

What if that became our prayer, our goal for 2024? Would doing so give us greater strength to endure the trials, temptations, and difficulties coming in 2024? Perhaps abounding in our love for God would come from more time reading/studying/meditating on His Word, more time spent in prayer, and doing more to help others. My brothers and sisters, it is the only way to come to love God as he desires.

Paul is not only concerned about the Philippians growing in their love for God; he prays for them to grow in their knowledge and discernment. True Biblical love for others and for God requires knowledge. As we grow in our knowledge about the love God has for us, we grow in our love for Him and others. This knowledge is not a sentimental feeling but what comes from the knowledge and truth from God’s Word. We love based on Biblical principles. 1 Corinthians 13 is known as the chapter that defines what this is. Paul included the word discernment with knowledge. Discernment is being sensitive to spiritual and moral needs. In other words, we must become sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit to separate the good from the bad, the important from the unimportant in order to help those around us to grow spiritually and/or help them in their walk to or on the narrow way to heaven. Discernment helps us to love better by concentrating on God’s love; God’s love is unconditional where human love can be centered more on one’s self.

As we grow in God’s love, it helps Believers “approve the things that are excellent”. This helps them “be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of the righteousness”. This is what walking on the narrow way is about – becoming morally pure. Even as “good” as the Philippians were, Paul is writing to encourage them to grow even more in their walk with the Lord so others would see the result of being filled with Jesus Christ. There were greater blessings for them.

As we close 2023 and begin 2024, I pray this prayer from Paul to be each of our prayer. I am challenged and I pass the challenge on to each of you to grow in your walk with God, not by simply doing good works, but by living in a godly way so your good works reflect Jesus. The righteousness Paul writes about come not from good works but from God and from our faith in Him. It is only fitting to end this as Paul ended the verses above. May all we do as believers be done “with the fruits of the righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God”!