April 10 2026

Friday April 10

“Love In Knowledge and All Discernment”

Philippians 1:9-11

“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” 

Today we are looking at Philippians 1:9–11. Here we have a prayer that Paul prays for the believers at Philippi. Remember Paul is in prison. He is in chains back in Rome. Many people would think, “Wow, you must feel useless. You are in prison. What can you do?” My friend, you can pray. Paul prayed and he sent a letter to these people—his friends, the church at Philippi—to encourage them.

There is never a time in your life when you cannot pray. As long as you have breath in your body and your mind is working, you can call out to God in prayer. You can pray for others even when you are in dire straits like Paul. You can always pray. What did Paul pray? In these verses, he prayed several things. In verse 9, he prayed that they would have a love that grows—a love that overflows. He prayed that they would have a love with knowledge. He also prayed that they would have a love with spiritual discernment.

How important that is—not only to say, “I love you,” but to have a love that is growing for someone, a love that is based on truth—the knowledge of God’s Word—and a love that has discernment to know how to give, how to pray, and how to do what needs to be done to encourage those we are praying for. Paul is praying for these people to have that kind of love.

Paul prays for them to have a love that grows in knowledge. As we were talking about knowledge yesterday and what that means, I could not help but think of a verse in Psalm 9:10. It says this: “They that know Your name will put their trust in You. For You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.” To know God’s name—Jehovah, Yahweh—to know His many names. We know Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who provides, and the list goes on and on. We have given lessons about that on Pastor’s Chat.

When you know His name, and you know who God really is, and you experience His holiness—as Isaiah did in Isaiah chapter 6—he fell on his face. He confessed his sin of having unclean lips. He was cleansed by an angel and the Word of God. Then he heard the voice saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for Me?” Isaiah responded, “Here I am, Lord. Send me.”

Many people believe this love with knowledge means a love that dedicates itself to the glory of God, to the purposes of God, and to the mission of God. It says, “Here I am, Lord. Send me.” That is knowledge. That is dedication. That is doing what is right. This knowledge, though, must be accompanied by discernment. We find that in this verse as well.

Discernment is the ability to see things clearly—to know what is right and wrong and what truly matters. We live in a world that is constantly blurring the lines between truth and error. Today more than ever, we need spiritual discernment. It helps us make wise decisions, avoid deception, and stay aligned with God’s will.

Discernment does not come automatically. It grows as we walk with God, as we study His Word, and as we listen to His Holy Spirit. We do not need to ask God for more information; most often, we need to ask for discernment. Because knowledge—knowing what is right—is good, but choosing what is best is even better.

That is what real discernment will give us. We will not only know what is right; we will know what is best—and how to do what is best in the right way. How we need to pray for our friends, our family, our church members, our church leaders, and even our country’s leaders to have discernment—so they will not only know what is right but will choose what is best with what is right and do it the right way.

May God help us to do that, even today.

God bless and may you have a wonderful, wonderful day!