Cheryl & I had to laugh three years ago, as we watched our son-in-law (who is probably about as mechanically inclined as I am, which isn’t saying very much!) try to put together a baby swing in the living room of our little condo in Oklahoma. At one point Josh stepped out for a minute and Cheryl looked over at me and said: “That doesn’t look anything like the picture on the box!” I think she feared for her first grandbaby’s life in that thing as it was! He finally did get it figured out; but it helps when you know what the finished product is supposed to look like.
Last week we that when God begins His work of salvation in us, He will continue that process until the day He calls us to heaven. We are not to be content to remain as we are, but should continue to grow and mature all through our Christian life. But how do we know if we are on the right track? What are we supposed to look like as we mature? Paul follows Philippians 1:6 with :7-11, which describe for us the fruit of Christian maturity — some of the qualities we should begin to demonstrate as we grow in Christ.
Verses 7-8 are a kind of background/introduction to Paul’s relationship with the Philippians; we’ll look at that in just a moment. Then in :9 he writes: “And this I pray.” This is important. WHAT was Paul praying for these people whom he loved, and who loved him so much? What did he want for them? We can learn from Paul’s prayer about what we should be praying for ourselves and for others as we grow spiritually — what we should look like as we mature spiritually. We see several fruits of spiritual growth in these verses: Continue reading
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