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Paul's Prayer

             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, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. (Ephesians 1:9-11)

On the one hand, there is love that abounds because you’re around the person and get to know them and they make you feel happy (or some such.) On the other hand, there’s love that abounds because you get to know the person and can find ways to help, encourage, support, challenge, or bless him/her. Paul seems to have been writing about the latter. Our love is to abound in knowledge and depth of insight so we may discern what is best. It’s also to abound in knowledge (etc.) so that we may be pure and blameless.

I think that when I’ve read this verse in the past, I’ve thought of purity and blamelessness in terms of not getting drunk, sleeping around, or all those other things we all know we shouldn’t be doing. But Paul prayed that the Ephesians’ would be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless. It’s not (just) about not going what’s bad. It’s (also or more) about doing what is good.

That brings to mind something I heard long ago: If Christians focused more on all the things they’re supposed to do, they wouldn’t have time to think about or do all the things they’re not supposed to do.

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