"And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ" (Phillipians 1:9,10)
This devotional about Christian love is by Dr. Stuart R. Schimpf:
The best gift we can ask God to grant another is the gift of love. Oswald Smith says that love is supreme in our discipleship. Jesus asks, "Lovest thou me?" This is His first concern. Love is also supreme in our conduct. "If ye love me, keep my commandments"! Again, love is supreme in our service. "Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing."
What is Christian love? It is more than natural affection. Such "love is of God," and hence Paul prays that others may possess it. Christian love is not "blind"! The more of it you possess, the greater your understanding of spiritual truths and the better you can discern God's will. This means the ability, not merely to recognize what is good and what is bad, but "to approve things that are excellent," to be able to distinguish between what is good and what s better! Love lends sharpness and clarity to our spiritual vision.
Augustine, the famous church father, is reported once to have said, "Love God, and do as you please, for what you then please to do will accord with the law of God!" Let us pray that the Lord will help us to love Him as we ought to love, and thus be "sincere and without offense till the day of Christ."
More love to Thee, O Christ
More love to Thee
Hear Thou the prayer I make
On bended knee
This is my earnest plea:
More love O Christ, to Thee
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!