LOVE ABOUNDING

Paul's letter to the Philippians is different from many of his other letters in that the church in Philippi was not in the midst of any sort of serious controversy nor under threat from false teachers. 

Things were pretty good and normal there. In fact, he wrote to thank them for supporting him financially and sending one of their own to help him while he has been in prison.

Paul begins the letter with gratitude for the church there in Philippi and he lets the congregation know that he prays for them regularly.

And then he tells them what he prays and why:

1:9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Maybe the Philippians knew exactly what Paul meant, but his prayer leaves me with a lot of questions!

It makes sense that he prays primarily for their love to grow since love is central to the Christian faith. 

But love for whom? For God? For each other? For the lost world?

I suppose it is safe to assume Paul had all three in mind. 

He wants to see their LOVE grow, in general. 

But Paul specifically wants their love to grow in 1) knowledge and 2) depth of insight. We don't usually associate "knowledge" with love. Emotion and passion, yes, but not knowledge. Not "insight". 

But for the Christian, there is much to learn - about God, about human nature, about forgiveness and grace. 

I heard an atheist recently say that religion is a bunch of brainwashing that needs constant reinforcement and that's why churches want their people to gather weekly for preaching and teaching.

What one man calls brainwashing, another calls education. And it seems to me that for believers - those who are coming out of the darkness and into the light - there's a lot to learn.

In fact, it seems to me that we as believers are called on to learn a whole new take on reality itself. 

Teaching and preaching and Bible study and prayer are all avenues for learning about reality - from the One who created it and knows it best. 

It's easy for me to get caught up in theology and Bible study, driven by curiosity and the desire to understand. But I need to keep in mind that learning is not the end goal.

The end goal is always greater love.