Perspectives

Philippians 1:9-10 …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 until the day of Christ… (NIV)

Here we have the Apostle Paul saying that his prayer for the Philippian Church (and present-day Christians) is that their love for Jesus Christ, and all believers through out the whole world, would grow greater every day. I do not think he is talking about an over-romantic, gushy sentimental kind of love. But a love that is sensitive to the needs of our fellow believers and a kind of love, which enables us to grow spiritually so that we can distinguish between right and wrong.

You might be wondering, “What do I mean by a sensitive kind of love?” A sensitive kind of love works in a couple of ways. First, it helps us to grow spiritually. It helps us to distinguish between right and wrong. It helps us to have a desire to learn more about the things we love. If you and I love someone or something, what are the normal natural things we do? For me it means I get all the information that is available on that subject. Or if it is a person of interest, I will want to learn more about that person. I suppose then if you and I say we love Jesus Christ, we will or we should learn more about Christ and what the Bible teaches.

Now if we take this love to another level… We should become defenders of the faith. Philippians 1:7) It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. (NIV)

The Apostle Paul says that we all share a common goal… that is to defend and confirm the gospel. You and I share a common struggle. It is a struggle with those who do not share the story of Jesus Christ and His death on the cross; they think it is nothing but nonsense and, they do not mind telling you so. But now and then, we are our own worst enemy. I mean, sometimes I ask other believers some leading questions that can be very humiliating for them to answer, should they answer honestly. It can be very hurtful for that person… that I should not do. I should never try to degrade a fellow believer. After all, we share a common task so why would we seek to hurt one another.

The Bible has a lot to say about love. It does not take a long time for us to understand that Christian love is not blind. It reminds us to pray for grace and peace for all people, the sick, the lonely, the tired, the weary, the people in our churches and people in our government when they behave like spoiled children. By having a prayerful attitude, we can truly have the joy of knowing God as Father and the peace of being reconciled to God, and to each other and to remind ourselves that grace and peace can come only through fellowship with Jesus Christ. But if our love is somewhat nasty and we thoughtlessly hurt the feelings of the one we claim to love, then perhaps we have a right to question that love. Because the more we love Christ, the more we will instinctively shrink from what is evil and desire what it right. Real love is not blind; it will enable us always to see the difference between the false and the true and never cause others to stumble.

Our goal as Christians must be to remain virtuous and pure in the sight of God because we have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and so we understand that we need Christ’s love and gentleness so that we will attract others to the Christian faith, and never drive them from it. As Christians, we understand that our walk with Christ is not meant to win praise for ourselves, but to win praise for Jesus Christ. We know, and testify, that we are what we are, not by our own single-handed efforts, but only by our relationship with Jesus Christ and by the grace of God… filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:11) (NIV)

Would you pray this prayer with me …”Lord Jesus, come into my heart? Forgive my sins, for I have many. I want my life to change. My thoughts and my attitude need to change. I don’t have peace in my heart, I really want that peace, joy, and happiness that I long for. Please let the Holy Spirit help me be the kind of Christian that will bring honour to You Name.” Amen