Philippians 1:9-10 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.
To be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. What a beautiful thing to live for, a glorious goal worthy of daily effort. That was the prayer Paul had for the people of Philippi and I pray it is the same for you. But there is more that Paul prayed for these believers and much we can learn from his words. His prayer for them immediately follows his joy and gratitude for their faith.
Paul speaks of their love at the beginning of his prayer. The Greek term used for love in this verse is agape, which is comparable to the love of God. It is a selfless love, where one sacrificially cares for others and their benefit. The Philippians already had a reputation for being strong in their love, yet Paul prayed that their love would continue to grow stronger.
He also prayed for knowledge and discernment for them. In order for us to grow in our love, especially in sacrificial, selfless agape love, we need to be seeking God and understanding His nature. We are called to be imitators of God and as such we should love others the way He loves us. Therefore, we need discernment to know how to do that. We need knowledge of who He is and what He has done. We need to be seeking Him and growing in our faith so that we truly can be imitators.
And as we do all of these things we are striving to live a life pleasing to Him. Our eyes should be focused on Him first and foremost, and then on others, not on ourselves. Discernment helps us to focus on Him, His ways, His actions and love. We follow Him, do as He does, and in so doing we grow in our faith. Hopefully, this also means we will be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. That should be our daily prayer, just as Paul prayed it for the Philippians.
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