Grow in Love

There is a passage in one of Paul's letters, where he states: "And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment." (ESV) At first, it looked like Paul was praying for growth in love, knowledge, and discernment. But, with a little more consideration, it looks more like Paul is praying for an increase in love, characterized by greater knowledge, and greater discernment.

Why would you need knowledge, and discernment, to love someone?

Well, first, do you know what love is? Nowadays, it seems like most people define love as complete acceptance. But I think the4 Bible defines loves as wanting, promoting, and working for the best for someone.

To love like Jesus, we do need to accept people. We can list of bunch of people, Jesus accepted:

• The women at the well.
• The women caught in adultery.
• Zaccheus.
• The rich, young ruler.

Jesus accepted them. But, because he loved them, he did not want them to stay where they were. It would be better if they moved on, gave allegiance to the Father, and live in a relationship with him.

So, we need to learn what love is. We need to know how to express it. And we need to discern what to express. Sometimes the best way to express love is with a hug. And sometimes the best way to express love is to tell someone they are messing up, what they need to do to clean up, and how to move forward.

We need knowledge, and discernment, to express love. And if we grow in knowledge, and discernment, we can express love more, and better.