The imperative of love - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my mind and heart in Philippians 1:9-11,

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in
knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern
what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ,
filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus
Christ—to the glory and praise of God."

Paul was a man of prayer. He spoke of praying for the folks in the
church in Rome, Romans 1:9-10, for the folks in the church in Ephesus,
Ephesians 3:14-19, for the folks in the church in Colosse, as well as
many other places. Here he speaks of praying for the believers in
Philippi.

As in Ephesians 3:14-19, Paul prays for love in the hearts and minds
of the Philippian believers. It was his desire to see the love of
believers "abound more and more". It appears Paul felt there was no
end to the opportunity for growth in love in the hearts of believers,
that there was no arrival or destination point of enough love. No
matter how mature a believer might become, there is always room for
more love.

I note that Paul says love abounds in increasing knowledge and depth
of insight: a seamless integration of love tied to the other. If we
don't find greater capacity for love, greater expressions of love in
our acquisition of knowledge and depth of insight, then we are missing
the appointed outcome these should bring. We often hear of those who
have "head knowledge" indicating that somehow the acquisition of
knowledge of the things of God has somehow escaped the heart,
represented in love not evidenced - a misdirected dynamic.

The more we grow in knowledge and depth of insight, the more we should
grow in love and vice versa. It is only from the increasing interplay
of the two that the outcomes of discernment and the fruit of
righteousness find their rightful places in our lives.

Is this dynamic important? To the degree we find the glory of God and
the praise of God important! This is how it is accomplished, "to the
glory and praise of God."

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com