"And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;
That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;"
Philippians 1:9-10
I like the idea of love within knowledge and judgment. I know that in my life, sometimes I don't approve things that are excellent because a conflict with the person presenting whatever excellent thing it is gets in the way. I am working on that, and I think slowly getting better, but perhaps a lot of us do that. I think one of the things that Paul is getting at here is something that God asks us elsewhere as well. If we are sincere and without offense, then our love will be "without dissimulation" (Romans 12:9). We won't be faking our social interactions with anyone or pretending to be nice... we really will be. And when we really learn to love other people, we won't get into petty arguments with them or overlook excellent ideas because of a person. Our knowledge and judgment and everything we do will be infused with love, and we will be able to let go of our pride and see the good in everyone, and approve all excellent things, whether the person who presented it is a friend or not. We'll be able to follow Christ's instruction to "Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you." (Luke 6:28). I don't think that it happens all at once, but the more that we can feel that love for everyone, the more we will start to get it, and move toward feeling that all the time. Today, let's let our love abound. Let's lace it into all of our interactions, and show it to everyone around us, whether or not they return the feeling. Let's be kinder, and more patient, and take more time to think about how to make our interactions positive and loving, to everyone, every minute.
That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;"
Philippians 1:9-10
I like the idea of love within knowledge and judgment. I know that in my life, sometimes I don't approve things that are excellent because a conflict with the person presenting whatever excellent thing it is gets in the way. I am working on that, and I think slowly getting better, but perhaps a lot of us do that. I think one of the things that Paul is getting at here is something that God asks us elsewhere as well. If we are sincere and without offense, then our love will be "without dissimulation" (Romans 12:9). We won't be faking our social interactions with anyone or pretending to be nice... we really will be. And when we really learn to love other people, we won't get into petty arguments with them or overlook excellent ideas because of a person. Our knowledge and judgment and everything we do will be infused with love, and we will be able to let go of our pride and see the good in everyone, and approve all excellent things, whether the person who presented it is a friend or not. We'll be able to follow Christ's instruction to "Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you." (Luke 6:28). I don't think that it happens all at once, but the more that we can feel that love for everyone, the more we will start to get it, and move toward feeling that all the time. Today, let's let our love abound. Let's lace it into all of our interactions, and show it to everyone around us, whether or not they return the feeling. Let's be kinder, and more patient, and take more time to think about how to make our interactions positive and loving, to everyone, every minute.
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