Daily Devotions
Love & Knowledge
Title: Love & Knowledge
Reading for March 22: 1 Samuel 1-3
Weekly reading for March 18-24: Philippians 1-4
And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment...
Philippians 1:9
A friend once asked me, “What color roses does your wife like?”
I thought I knew. I thought she liked red roses. That's what I had always gotten her (and she seemed to appreciate them). My friend suggested I ask her.
She likes pink roses.
Then one day I bought her a bouquet of mixed flowers. She loved them! I learned that Adrienne likes roses but there are other flowers she likes even more than roses.
Now, after 20 years of marriage, I've learned that while Adrienne appreciates flowers, what she really loves is service (when I cook supper, clean the house, etc.).
All relationships are based on this kind of knowledge. A relationship without knowledge lacks depth. We can't say we love our mates if we're not studying them. We want to know what they love. We want to please them.
How did I learn Adrienne? I learned by listening to what she SAYS she likes. I’ve learned by OBSERVING what she likes. And I’ve learned by studying her deeply, learning underlying PRINCIPLES behind what she likes.
Paul prayed that the Philippian church would abound in our love for God, but this was not a prayer for mere sentimental or emotional love. It was a prayer that their love would abound in knowledge, and that our knowledge would lead us to approve what is excellent (i.e. to love what God loves).
How does this knowledge grow? It grows as we study God. We learn from what God SAYS, by OBSERVING patterns of behavior and action that are approved by him, and by looking for biblical PRINCIPLES that direct us toward what he wants from us.
Father, help our love to abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment so that we might approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, all to your glory and praise.
