What a privilege it is to be able to get a glimpse into the prayers of Paul. Here Paul tells the Philippians what it is that he is praying for when he prays for them. There are several things in this prayer and we will take the time to look at each one of them before considering the prayer as a whole.
The first thing God asks for them is that they may abound in love.
The first thing God asks for them is that they may abound in love.
Of all the things that might be on his mind that they would need, isn't it interesting that this is the first? He could ask for their physical well-being, but he doesn't. He could ask that God would supply them with material wealth, but he does not. He could ask for them to be protected from coming persecution, but again, this is not his request. What he does ask is that they would become a people who abound in love.
If you could ask God for anything, what would you ask? We have all contemplated this, though probably in a different format. We have all come across the old cliché about the three wishes and what would you ask for if you had them. Probably we have thought about it even, especially when we were younger. But, I'm being serious now. If we could have anything from God, for what would we ask?
The first thing Paul asks for, for them, is that their love might abound. Paul wants them to be a people known by their love. Wouldn't it be something if we were a people known by love? If our churches were known by their love? What would it be like if the first image conjured up by the world when they heard the word 'Christian' or 'follower of Christ' or 'disciple of Christ' were love? Sound a little far-fetched? Sound a little too liberal perhaps? What if the most loving place in the world were that place behind the doors of a church building, in the sanctuary, in the pews, among the disciples of Jesus Christ?
What is it that distinguishes us from the world around us? Or better put, what is supposed to be the thing that distinguishes us from the world around us? What is it that sets us apart? What is it, in Paul's mind, that we need before anything else?
Love.
And not just that we would know love and be the recipients of love, but that we would abound in love. That is, that our lives would be known by the abundance of love that we show for God, for each other, and for the loveless world around us.
What does our Christian community tend to project to the culture at large? By what are we known? What does your church project to your community? What do you project to the world around you? This day and every day, let it be an abundance of love.
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