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Love's Longing Prayer
by Henry Morris III, D. Min.
"And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and
in all judgment." (Philippians 1:9)
Paul's longing for the Philippian church is eloquently expressed in his prayer
for their maturation in the faith. It begins simply with a prayer for their
growing love--love that will "abound yet more and more." This phrase is only
used two other times: in 1 Thessalonians 4:1 and 10. Essentially, the prayer is
that their love would never stop increasing.
The focus of the ever-increasing love, however, is not emotive reactions or
depth of feeling. It is a nonstop, ever-growing love for "knowledge" and
"judgment." And as one might expect, the Holy Spirit's choice of words is
important.
Several Greek words could be translated "knowledge." This specific choice in
Philippians 1:9 is epignosis, a term that emphasizes understanding of facts or
truth and carries an intensive meaning with a fuller, clearer, more thorough
knowledge than mere awareness of data. A person with epignosis knows both what
and why they have certain facts.
"Judgment" is the translation of aisthesis, an unusual term that demands
perception, understanding, and discernment of what to do with the knowledge.
Both terms are intellectually based and require a growing grasp of information.
But both are the product of love--not human standards of high intelligence.
We must be "rooted and grounded in love" (Ephesians 3:17), speak "the truth in
love" (Ephesians 4:15), and always be conscious of our relationships so that we
"increase" the "edifying of itself in love" (Ephesians 4:16).
Finally, there is this over arching statement: "God is love; and he that
dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." (1 John 4:16). HMM III
See Also:
Daily Morning and Evening Devotionals by Spurgeon
Daily Devotional: Today With Jesus
Daily Devotional: My Utmost for His Highest
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