What treasures are available to the ones of us who are followers of Jesus! His purpose is for us to not only have life, but he wants us to have abundant life. All too often people who consider themselves followers of Christ don’t experience lives of peace and joy and power. We keep struggling with the same relational issues or bad habits. Self-awareness and some effort on our part is key to experiencing abundant life.
We have the amazing opportunity to utilize the many prayers that are in the Bible for ourselves and for our loved ones. Through the years I have often used Scripture to pray for my husband and my children. One of my favorites is found in Philippians 1:9–11 (NASB). “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”
I love that word “abound.” It’s a happy word, a generous word. When love abounds, things seem pretty good. The most important command that Jesus gives us is to love God and to love one another. The word abounding sounds pretty close to abundant, doesn’t it? If we have abounding love for God and for each other, we experience abundant life! Paul says that our love will abound when we have real knowledge of God. With that knowledge we are able to have discernment.
In Colossians 1:9–10 (NIV) Paul says: “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God . . .”
We also find that grace and peace come with knowledge of God. “Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:2–3 (NIV)
Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane reveals another compelling benefit of knowing God. “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3 (NIV) Did you ever think of eternal life as knowing God?
So—with knowing God we get the benefits of wisdom and understanding, we learn how to please God, we bear fruit for God, we get to know him better and better, we get peace in abundance, everything we need to live a godly life, and we have eternal life. These are but a few of the benefits we have when we know and follow God. Why would seeking to know God not be our first priority?
These passages also say that we are to be blameless. How concerned are we with becoming blameless? What does that even mean? The word “blameless” occurs often in the Bible.When God called Abraham into relationship with him, he was very specific: “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless” Gen. 17:1 (NIV).
Strong defines the word for blameless in this verse as without blemish, complete, full, perfect, sincere, sound, without spot, undefiled, upright, whole. In the above passage from Philippians, the word for blameless is defined as inoffensive (not leading others into sin) and faultless (not led into sin).
So how do we get to know God and how do we live our lives to be blameless? If you are a follower of Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit of God living in you, connecting you to him and capable of empowering you to live the life he wants you to live. What an amazing thought! God desires a relationship with us and he has made it easy for us by providing the way for that to happen. He requires holiness and blamelessness from us and he also provides a way (the only way) for us to achieve it. What an awesome God! It’s like saying, “I love you and I want you to succeed, so I am going to do everything I can to make that happen.”
What does all this have to do with marriage? I believe the way to have the best relationship with your spouse is by knowing God and pleasing him. It is the way to have victory over bad habits, bad attitudes, and bad communication. It is a way to be able to treat your spouse the way you want to be treated. It is a bond of closeness with each other that you can only find in your mutual love and pursuit of your Savior. It is a model for your children to see and to give them the foundation they will need to learn to be blameless before him. It is the true key to life and peace and joy. And I pray that for all of you—that your love will abound still more and more for each other.
