Growing in Love – Philippians 1:9
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment.
With the same inexorable force that causes a river in flood tide to overflow its banks, so should the love of God rush forth from our hearts, saturating our surroundings, affecting everything in its path. For loving others with a holy passion is not optional. It is an imperative of Christianity, second only to loving God,[1] and we would be deceiving ourselves if we thought we could love God without learning how to love others,[2] and in so learning, loving them freely, lavishly, devotedly.
As followers of Christ, we have an abundance of love, which fills our hearts from heaven’s mighty river, leaving us with an ever-increasing measure. As each day awakens with the rising of the sun and we rouse from our sleep to turn to Him in prayer and praise, Christ’s love draws us closer to Him, deepening our devotion for Him, filling our hearts, spilling over their boundaries to reach the shores of those around us. This love, which God supplies, carries with it understanding, not to weaken our affection for others, but to strengthen it, that we might love in wisdom and truth. For Christ’s love is not like the world’s blind substitute which offers its beneficiaries nothing more than superficiality and neediness. Rather, it shows us how to love others well, through enlightened eyes, so our love will be like a downpour drenching a land that has gone long without rain.
We need not fear that we will not know how to exercise the love God gives to us, for by His grace, He teaches us all that we need to know,[3] and as we seek to glorify Him, He steers love’s precious waters along a fertile and fruitful course. As He changes our hearts to be more like His, we will learn to love others graciously and profoundly,[4] for God is love.[5]
As the love of Jesus Christ is
increasing and abounding in you,[6] pour this love into others. Walk in love along the Highway of Holiness,
leaving by the roadside anything that would hold you back from living in love’s
abundance, exercising its fullness, and rejoicing in its blessings. Bind yourself to others in love, and you will
become rich in the love of Jesus Christ.[7]
[1] Matthew 22:37-40
[2] 1 John 4:20
[3] 1 Thessalonians 4:9
[4] 1 Thessalonians 3:12
[5] 1 John 4:16
[6] Ephesians 3:17-19
[7] Colossians 2:2-3
