This morning's scripture comes from Philippians 1:9-10. This comes from the introductory remarks of Paul to the church in Philippi, but within this greeting, there is great encouragement. This verse encourages his readers to allow their love to draw them nearer in knowledge of Christ.
What I find most interesting about this verse is the order: LOVE leads to knowledge - not the other way around. We don't investigate the deepest depths of God first, and then decide that we want to love God and love others. Love is the starting point to all knowledge and insight.
No matter where you come from or what culture you live in, it is nearly universal that love is one of the most - if not the most - powerful forces in the world. If this is a nearly universal principle, knowing that love is a good and important thing to pursue needs no investigation. In fact - these are the ONLY 2 commands that Jesus gives us explicitly - to love God and love others (Matthew 22:36-39, John 13:34-35, John 15:10-13)
However, knowledge of God is not a bad thing to pursue. God has given us the gift of wisdom and intellect to investigate His creation to see His face more clearly. To waste this gift and stop our pursuit of God at love would be a tragedy. Even the pursuit of learning to love God and love others takes a lifetime. Doing this required a commitment of our hearts and our minds. And the coolest thing about it is that God meets us in our pursuit of Him. He comes along and helps bring clarity to parts of scripture that seem puzzling. He also gives us the free will to draw our own conclusions from this investigation, but never without His help. This is how love propels us in this pursuit - God's love is never separated from us as we do this.
Knowledge, wisdom, and insight are good things to pursue, but when they are done without love, they puff us up, instead of drawing us nearer to God. So this morning, let love be the catalyst in all of the things you see and learn, and let it draw you nearer to God with every step you take to know Him more.
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