And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
Philippians 1:9–11
There’s a little phrase tucked into Philippians 1 that has been sitting with me for the last couple of months. Paul prays for the church in Philippi, and this is his prayer:
That your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.
It’s a beautiful prayer with a peculiar phrase: Abound more and more.
Paul prays that our love would always continue to grow. No matter how much we love today, it would always grow more and more.
It is meant to expand in knowledge and insight—not just feeling, but wisdom and understanding. Not just sentiment, but action. And it is meant to keep doing that—day after day, year after year.
Paul goes on to explain how this growth benefits us. It benefits others (certainly), but our growth in love also benefits the Lord and us personally. When we continue to grow in love, we are able to discern what is best, we become more pure, more blameless, and more filled with righteousness. And, as a result, God receives glory and praise.
Here’s the question that prayer forces us to ask: Am I doing that? Is my love growing more and more? Am I being intentional to stretch and deepen my love for others?
I’m sure entire books could be written on how to grow in love and they’d be great to read. But today, I want to leave you with a simple question:
Is that something I am trying to do? Am I intentionally trying to grow in love that it would abound in me more and more?
And if not, what might that look like? What intentional actions can I take to accomplish that?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me discover a love that abounds more and more. May it grow in knowledge and depth of insight. Give me the passion and understanding of how to love better. Amen.