Abounding Love

 There is one distinctive characteristic which should be evident in the life of every Christian. We should be known for our love. After all, God is love, and we are to be like our Father. Our Lord Jesus loved the whole world so much that He came to die for the sins of every person who has ever been born into this world or who will be born in the future. The Spirit is in us to give us the power and guidance to love others well.

Paul's prayer for the Christians at Philippi lays this out for us and shows us how to pray for ourselves. (Philippians 1:9) Our love is to abound still more and more in knowledge and in all discernment. That is God's will for each of us. This should be our prayer for ourselves and other believers. It is very possible, but we have to be committed to love everyone in this way. 

The first thing we see here is that our love is to abound still more and more. Our love should never stop growing as long as we are alive in this world. We can never get to the point where we love enough. We can always do better. We just need to have God's knowledge of how to love, and we need to have all types of discernment to know how to love well. God will give us this ability if we ask Him and we keep seeking Him daily.

This abounding love is first to be our love for God. Our love for the Father, Son, and Spirit should grow stronger every day we live. Then, we should love those around us who don't know Jesus more and more each day, so we have Christ's love to engage them and lead them to Jesus in love. Finally, our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ must continue to abound more and more, so that our supernatural unity is on display for all the world to see and be amazed by it.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Philippians 2-4.