November 4, 2026
Today's Reading: Philippians 1:3-11
Daily Lectionary: Jeremiah 5:1-19; Matthew 22:23-46
“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so 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)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
When Paul prays that the love of the saints in Philippi would abound, he’s not talking about some generic “love is love” kinda love. He is specific. The love they have is the love that comes through Jesus Christ. It is His love that is given with which we love others, “we love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). His is a love that is first demonstrated by Christ on the cross even “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). In Christ, God has demonstrated that He has “loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3). Then He gives that love to you in a very specific, very tangible way, His Body and Blood are given and shed for you.
We have all kinds of continuously created counterfeit and corrupted kinds of “love” in this world. Paul’s prayer is that you would not only know the specificity of the love of Christ for you, which is the cause of your salvation, but that in both quantity (“more and more”) and quality (“with knowledge and all discernment”) you would grow in the love of Christ. Abounding in this love is lived out in daily repentance, remembering your Baptism into the death and resurrection of the One who has truly loved you. Not because you’ve earned it, not because you deserve it, but because He freely gives it.
And that love which caused our salvation has an effect. It draws us to what is excellent and pure. The love of Christ fills us with the fruit of righteousness. This is the work of the Holy Spirit in you because you are loved by God. So we thank God that he sent his Son and demonstrated a love that is not like a Hallmark movie or simply syrupy and self-indulgent. No, Christ's love we can depend on, and we can depend on God's Word to show us what love is.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Lord God, we thank You that You have taught us what You would have us believe and do. Help us by Your Holy Spirit, for the sake of Jesus Christ, to hold fast Your Word in hearts that You have cleansed that thereby we may be made strong in faith and perfect in holiness and be comforted in life and death; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Rev. Jason Schockman, associate pastor of Saint Paul Lutheran Church in Oconomowoc, WI.
Scholar and author A. Andrew Das bridges the gap between Bible commentary and daily devotional in this innovative exploration of Luke's Gospel. Through a creative narrative device—a dinner conversation with the physician and Gospel writer Luke himself— you will discover the radical message that turned the ancient world upside down.
