Thoughtful Love; Philippians

May the mumbling commence!

Sometimes, it is good to revisit a passage of Scripture in a different translation (or in this case paraphrase).  Let’s take another look at the first passage in Philippians that deals with prayer in chapter one (Eugene Peterson’s The Message paraphrase):

So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well.  Learn to love appropriately.  You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush.  Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God. (Verses 9-11)

May prayer transform our love.  Look at all the different descriptors that Peterson uses in conjunction with love.  Love flourishes.  Love is not just about quantity – it is also about quality.

Quality and quantity – that’s great.  But there’s more to think about.  Our love must also be appropriate, sincere and intelligent.  It is not just some sentimental sappy touchy-feely type of thing that takes no thought.  Christian love is thought-filled and thought-provoking.

Digging even deeper, we see a lover’s life defined as circumspect and exemplary.  Exemplary is somewhat easier for me to get a hold of.  It means of the best quality – above reproach.  But, what does circumspect mean?  So, I looked up the word on Webster’s Dictionary website, and this is what I found:

Circumspect: careful to consider all circumstances and possible consequences: prudent

And here are some synonyms that Webster had listed:

alert, cautious, careful, conservative, considerate, gingerly, guarded, heedful, safe, wary

This is the quality that is to be above reproach.  We need to be prudent in all loveliness.  We need to consider all the circumstances and all the possible outcomes of our actions and words before we put them in motion.

But with the quality and quantity of love that comes from God, we do need to put our carefully refined meaning of love.  Doing so will mean fruit of the Spirit – or of the soul as Peterson puts it.  It will mean making Christ attractive to all – without losing the core of who Christ is.

If we are effective as God’s ambassadors, then the people who worship God will snowball – more and more people will get involved in the glory and praise of God.  Life will be richer for all involved!

So let us pray together for this sincerity and this intelligence to consider all circumstances and all possible outcomes so that we will love appropriately.  That, my brothers and sisters, would be exemplary.  Love this way – well done.  Love early and often.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out