Paul deems it wise to clarify what kind of
love he wishes the Philippians to abound in. Listen to his words: “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”. Love needs guidance.
It needs to be based on what is right. It needs the will of God as its guide.
It needs Scripture as its base.
Too
often in our society we are confused with what love is. Some think that love is
romantic desire. As long as you romantically desire someone you love them. But
such longing is often pure selfishness. Some think that love is merely being
nice to other people – but true love must often refrain from being nice in order
to achieve a greater good, as in parental discipline. Many think that tolerance
is equal to love – but often tolerance is the polar opposite of love – namely
indifference. Our love, if it is to be a true and God-pleasing love, must be
based on God’s will. We need God’s guidance to show us what love is and what we
should drive towards in love. What is your guideline for love? Your own heart?
It will deceive you. Society? It will lead you astray. You need the Word of God
to guide your love.
As
a husband, I sometimes struggle with how I should show love to Karen. At times,
I try to do it by buying her little things. In the past, one of the things that
I have bought her is the big Cadbury Fruit and Nut chocolate bar (the dark
chocolate version when I am feeling particularly nice). There are two problems
that have emerged with this purchase. First of all, I love chocolate far more
than Karen, and I have been known to open the chocolate bar before she has had
the chance to eat it. She just lets it sit there and it proves to be too much
of a temptation for me. The second problem is that she takes a very, very long
time to finish a chocolate bar, so that I have been known to buy her a second
bar before she has finished the first one. My intentions may have been good,
but sometimes when I have bought her a chocolate bar it has been an unwise
thing to do. Sometimes we make unwise decisions when we try to love others. God’s standard of right and wrong must guide our love. And in
order for this to happen, we need to get His Word into our minds. We need God’s
wisdom to know what love is, and we need His insight to know how to love.
When
we pray for God’s people who are dear to us, we need to be praying for their
spiritual growth.
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