Approving the Things That Are Excellent

Paul makes this prayer to God on behalf of the Christians at Philippi: that their love would abound still more and more. Not that these weren’t loving people, because they were – but the love that they possessed and exhibited would overflow. Love is not biblical love unless it is rooted in the truth of the scriptures. Love must be accompanied by ‘real knowledge’ and ‘all discernment’. That means that we must have mature understanding and insight regarding God’s Word. It is much more than a wooden adherence to the Law out of sheer duty. Although strict obedience to God’s commands is necessary, there is the important element of genuine heart-felt love for the things of the Lord. It is a complete, whole-hearted, sincere devotion to God and the Holy Scriptures. It is an insatiable desire to quench our thirst with the water of the Word, and we don’t stop until we are filled.

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ. Philippians 1:9-10

By praying for discernment, Paul recognized that even Christians can make bad choices because we’re not thinking clearly. Sometimes we don’t know all the facts, sometimes we’re in a hurry, sometimes we want things our way. And so we make a regretful decision on something. But Paul is praying for discernment, the ability to distinguish right from wrong. That is, he’s praying that we would be aware of the things that cloud our minds or blind us to reality. Yes, there are things that will darken our spiritual eyes so that we do not see what God is trying to tell us through His Spirit. We need to rid ourselves of these things, which could be things like TV, music, impure thoughts (anything that distracts us from God’s way). If we put ourselves in a position that is far away from the distractions and put ourselves in a place where we are receptive to the things of God, then we will likely receive more light from the Holy Spirit and He will help us to develop skills in discernment.

Not only will we start to grow the fruit of abounding love, but now we will be able to ‘approve the things that are excellent’. This is the development of the skills of determining what is vital; deciding between good, better and best; what’s necessary and what’s unnecessary; separating the important from the unimportant. If we can develop these important skills, we are well on the path to being productive for the kingdom. But it takes a concentrated effort to protect our time well and use it for intense study, critical thinking and, of course, meaningful and fervent prayer for understanding.

We should study the Bible as dry and thirsty people. The result brings forth much fruit – the fruit of abounding love.