Dear Church of the Open Bible,
“But he likes it!” was the response of my three-year-old daughter. She was leaning back, carrying my one-year-old son around in front of her like she was performing the Heimlich maneuver. It made me gasp for breath just looking at him. I reached him in time, snatching him from her arms as she teetered to compensate for his weight.
“He may like it but it’s probably not good for you to carry him around until you’re older,” I said. She took it in stride and sprinted away to find some stuffed animals she could corral in a group bear hug. Reflecting on that moment, I had no doubt that my daughter loved her baby brother. She loved him dearly. It’s just that her love lacked something. There is a prayer recorded in the Bible that refers to this.
“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ…” - Philippians 1:9-10
Paul wants the Philippian's love to grow. He wants them to be more loving but not merely in quantity. He prays that their love may grow in quality, in discernment. Jovi’s love for her brother was genuine but uninformed. She struggled to know what was best for him. How do we know what is best or excellent? By trusting what God has said in Scripture. That is how we can best love others. May our love towards others be informed by God’s Word, abounding each day as we trust Him.