"And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment..."
Philippians 1:9

Philippians 1:9 was one of those verses I skimmed over because it seemed to have some deep spiritual meaning that was too difficult to understand and easily apply. Then I took time to meditate on it and ask some questions:

What does knowledge or discernment have to do with love? How does love abound in knowledge and discernment? We understand we are to love one another, love the brethren and love our neighbor. What more is there to discern?

As I meditated, I realized we actually come across countless situations where we need greater wisdom and discernment to know how best to love people. How do we help our child who has been convinced they're not the gender they were born with... are we to be the one to fill the need for another nursery worker at church...  do I cancel my lunch plans with a friend to take an elderly lady to her doctor's appointment...?

We're continually engulfed with situations where we need God's loving wisdom and discernment.

That's why when Paul tells us to "honor (or care for) widows who are really widows" (1 Tim 5:3), he goes on for 12 more verses to help us understand how to discern what he means by widows who are "really widows". Hebrews tells us "for whom the Lord loves He chastens..." (Heb 12:6). We know we're to discipline our children in love. What parent doesn't need greater knowledge and discernment in how to best do that?

Paul knew love needs to be joined with knowledge and discernment. It was one of Paul's staple prayers for the church of Philippi. It needs to be one of ours as we pray for our family, our church, and our missionaries. It's far more practical than just asking for God's blessing on them.

I pray with missionaries every week who need knowledge and discernment as they seek direction from the Lord about finances, family, or ministry concerns on the field.

Your missionaries continually require wisdom to discern how to demonstrate Christ's love in a third world country where there are so many needs or how to counsel a man who wants to be a deacon but had married three wives before he became a believer. Your missionaries face cultural dilemmas that boggle the mind of most seminary professors.

Pray. Pray that that their love would abound more and more in knowledge and discernment.

~Jim