And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight …
Summary: Paul’s prayer is an interesting one. We don’t normally associate love with knowledge and insight.
Have you ever wondered what Paul prayed about? Today’s passage gives us the answer.
Paul isn’t asking for the Philippians to have love or to be able to love; they already have that. He is specifically asking that the love they already have multiplies and grows “more and more” in two specific ways: in knowledge and “depth of insight.”
What does that mean?
The first word we need to understand is “love.” The word Paul uses is translated from the Greek word “agápē.” Agápē is occasionally translated as “charity” because the kind of love agápē refers to is both affectionate and charitable. (Strong’s G26)
The best example of agápē that we have is the love God has for his creation. Even though we choose to reject God by putting our own will before his, he still provides sunshine and rain, even for those who continue to reject him (Matthew 5: 45). Paul expects believers like you and me to have the same kind of love for all people, but especially for other believers.
The second word is “abound.” Paul wants us to be overflowing with godly love for others, just like our Father in heaven. To “abound” as Paul uses the word is to have over and above what is needed. If we translated Paul’s word literally, instead of “abound,” we would say “superabound!” (Strong’s G4052)
The next part of the sentence is more challenging.
Paul’s prayer is that our agápē love for all people would be superabounding in “knowledge and depth of insight.” How does love abound in knowledge and insight?
Good question!
To find the answer to this question, we need to look at the whole passage to see where Paul is going. Paul writes:
“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.” (Philippians 1:9-11)
To love in “knowledge and depth of insight” means to recognize the Christ as the source of our love for others and rightly discern God’s will for us (righteousness).
In short, Paul wants us to love others as God loves us.
Application: Keeping our focus on God’s will provides us with the discernment we need to love as he does.
Food for Thought: How do “knowledge and depth of insight” help us love more like God loves?
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