4 Benefits We Receive From Living in Christ's Love

 

by Barbara Latta @barbaralatta

As Paul ministered to the churches he established, he never lost sight of them even when he was not there in person. His letters indicate his love and care for these saints and his encouragement to them that they stay in the fold of Christ and follow God’s precepts.

In verse seven of Philippians chapter one, Paul thanks these people for standing with him during his imprisonment. In that day to associate with a person who was in chains was shameful. It put those people in the same regard as the prisoner according to some in that society. The Philippian church, at the time of this letter, was the only one who supported Paul monetarily (Philippians 4:15). For this, he was ever thankful and commended their faith.

His prayer to these believers is like those in Colossians and Ephesians in that he stresses they need to pursue knowledge and discernment. He is not speaking of intellectual knowledge, as the culture around them thrived on different philosophies. He urges them to seek to know Christ, to discern what is of God so they will not be swayed by the society where they lived.

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 NIV)

Jesus told us to abide in Him. This is how we gain that knowledge that Paul prayed. As we fellowship with Christ through prayer and Bible study, we can receive more revelation of who He is and the identity He gave us. (John 15:4). As we seek to know Him, we will be filled.

The benefits of knowing Christ’s love are endless but here are 4 Paul brought out in His prayer to the Philippians.

1. We can discern what is best. If we let our minds stray and don’t follow godly values, we can grow confused. We can make better decisions when we know Christ because the Scripture says we have His mind (1 Corinthians 2:16). Clear thinking will result in letting Jesus control our thoughts.

2. We will know more of His love. To receive God’s love, we must first realize that He does love us, individually and personally. He has already poured out His love through Jesus’ sacrifice at the cross, so we don’t need to ask Him to give us more love, we just need the knowledge of what He already gave. Our love abounds by pursing Him and knowing Him on a deeper level.

3. We can avoid offense. (James 1:19). Offense has grown into a platform in the world today. Someone is offended about something all the time. If we take these attitudes into our own minds, we will be distracted from our goal of growing in the knowledge of Christ. Jesus is our example and He commissioned us to go and do the works He did. We turn from offense by not listening and taking the unholy words to heart.

4. We can live in the fruit of righteousness (Matthew 5:16). The more knowledge we have of Christ, His character, and the gifts He has given to us through His sacrifice, the more the fruit of the Spirit will flow from us.

Can you see how each of these requests in the prayer build upon each other? As we pursue Christ and know more of His love, we will have clearer thinking, live in righteousness, and be able to avoid offensive reactions to others.

The more we allow the waterfall of Christ’s love to fill our souls, the more the strong current of His living water will flow through us to other people. (click to tweet)

There may be evil everywhere we go, but where sin abounds, grace abounds more (Romans 5:20).

What does this prayer in Philippians mean to you? Join the conversation.

4 Benefits We Receive From Living in Christ’s Love (click to tweet)

 

Image by Ralf Kunze from Pixabay