In his letter to the Philippian Christians, Paul writes about love. What can we learn about biblical love in Philippians?
[This discussion can be read aloud in less than 8 min.]
Philippians: Shine Like Stars – DAY 56
Family Discussions for Advent
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DAY 56/MONDAY
Philippians 1:9
Love in Philippians
“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight…”
Philippians 1:9 (NIV)
*Click here to read the ESV, NLT, & NIrV.
We’re continuing to follow along with the weekly themes of Christmas Advent — hope, peace, joy, love, & Christ — in light of our Philippians focus verses this month.
May our families shine like stars as we hold firmly to the word of life this Christmas celebration season!
Advent: Love
What can we learn about the nature of biblical love from Paul’s letter to the Christians in Philippi? This is the question that will guide our study & discussion this week.
Paul’s prayer for love to abound
“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”
Philippians 1:9-11 (NIV)
We’ve discussed these verses on past days (DAY 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18). On DAY 12 in particular, we saw:
“When Paul prays that the love of the Philippian church ‘may abound more & more,’ he’s talking about more & more self-sacrifice, more & more doing what may not feel so good, but is good, more & more putting others before yourself, more & more telling others the truth of the gospel.”
DAY 12: And This Is My Prayer
Our culture often associates love with acceptance and good feelings. Biblical love (which is true love!) does not always feel good. What are some of the most famous Bible verses about love? John 3:16?
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 (NIV)
Would it feel good to sacrifice your one & only perfect Son to save a world of people who not only didn’t deserve to be saved, and who were your enemies at the time, but also who would not all accept the sacrifice made on their behalf?
Sacrificing yourself, as Jesus did, does not feel good, either.
How about I Corinthians 13:4-5?
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”
I Corinthians 13:4-5 (NIV)
Does it feel good to be patient with people, especially those who are being difficult on purpose? How does it feel to be kind to people who are mean, rude, impolite, & unkind to you or to your friends or family?
What about boasting? When you can take credit for something, because you did in fact have a part in it, how easy is it to keep your mouth shut and let yourself be passed over for praise? It’s not easy, and it does not feel good — at least not in that moment.
It also feels good to our flesh to let our anger out sometimes, doesn’t it? Keeping your anger in check can feel like holding a fire inside you that you desperately want to let out so you can cool down!
As you can see just in the context of these couple of well-known Bible verses, loving does not always feel good. But we’ve been focusing on giving love. Does it always feel good to receive love? That would be a “no” as well.
Let’s go back to I Corinthians 13.
The truth doesn’t always feel good.
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.”
I Corinthians 13:6 (NIV)
We’ve all had people who love us tell us a truth we did not want to hear because it did not feel good to us to hear it!
Parents are usually the first people in our lives to do this. From “If you eat too much sugar, you’ll get sick” to “If you watch that scary movie, you’ll have nightmares,” parents tell us the truth out of their love for us throughout our childhood and, hopefully, throughout our lives.
The Bible tells us the truth. Some of it feels good, like when Jesus says,
“As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love.”
John 15:9 (NIV)
But that’s not all He says:
“As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love. 10If you keep My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commands and remain in His love.”
John 15:9-10 (NIV)
Remaining in Jesus’ love sounds awesome! But we can’t just sit on our hands and remain in His love. We have to keep His commands just as He has kept His Father’s commands.
Jesus’ love in His obedience
Here’s a snapshot of Jesus keeping His Father’s commands:
[WARNING: Parents be aware that the following verses describe some of the events of Jesus’ crucifixion. Discretion is advised with very young children.]
“Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around Him. 28They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him, 29and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on His head. They put a staff in His right hand. Then they knelt in front of Him and mocked Him. ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ they said. 30They spit on Him, and took the staff and struck Him on the head again and again. 31After they had mocked Him, they took off the robe and put His own clothes on Him. Then they led Him away to crucify Him.
32As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33They came to a place called Golgotha (which means ‘the place of the skull’). 34There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, He refused to drink it. 35When they had crucified Him, they divided up His clothes by casting lots. 36And sitting down, they kept watch over Him there. 37Above His head they placed the written charge against Him: ‘This is Jesus, the king of the Jews.’
38Two rebels were crucified with Him, one on His right and one on His left. 39Those who passed by hurled insults at Him, shaking their heads 40and saying, ‘You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! Come down from the cross, if You are the Son of God!’ 41In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked Him. 42‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘but He can’t save Himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let Him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in Him. 43He trusts in God. Let God rescue Him now if He wants Him, for He said, “I am the Son of God”.’ 44In the same way the rebels who were crucified with Him also heaped insults on Him.”
Matthew 27:27-44 (NIV)
Jesus is the Son of God. He did not have to submit to crucifixion, or insults, or beatings, or any of it…
“But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”
Ephesians 2:4-5 (NIV)
- Jesus submitted to God the Father’s commands out of love for Him.
- God submitted His One & Only Son, Jesus, to death & sin’s penalties & wrath out of love for us.
- Will we submit to Jesus’ commands out of love for the Father & the Son?
That Your Love May Abound
“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight…”
Philippians 1:9 (NIV)
The love that Paul wants to abound more & more in the Philippian believers’ knowledge & depth of insight is the love of Jesus, love that obeys what God the Father & God the Son command. Why? What they command is for the best! Not only our best, but everyone’s best — eternally speaking. How do we know that? Because the truth is that God is perfectly good and holy and just and… He is love.
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
I John 4:8-10 (NIV)
DAY 56/MONDAY Prayer
Father God,
Thank You for Your Word.
Lord, our world has different definitions of love than what we find in the Bible. Many of these definitions have to do with feeling good and making others feel good. This is not how You love us, nor is it how Jesus has loved You or us, or how He taught His disciples to love.
We confess that we have believed and followed some wrong definitions of love when we should have turned to Your Word to learn the truth. Please forgive us these sins and mistakes and help us to correct our definitions of love with the truth of Your Word.
As we continue to study the truth of the Scriptures, help us apply it to our lives, especially in how we love You and each other.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
DAY 56: In his letter to the Philippian Christians, Paul writes about love. We can learn about biblical love in Philippians.