Through The Bible in a Year - October 27, 2026
“…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.” -Philippians 1:9-10
The word “approve” here carries the sense of a metallurgist testing metal to determine its purity and grade. Paul is praying that the Philippians would be able to test their choices — not merely to avoid what is forbidden, but to discern and choose what is genuinely excellent, what is truly best for their good and Christ’s glory.
The early church sometimes spoke of the whole Christian life as an engagement period before the great wedding feast at the end of the ages when Christ claims His bride, the church, for eternity. Like any engagement, this season includes real joys — discovering more of who God is, being drawn closer to Him — but also, inevitably, some tears and trials – tests which deepen dependence for the greatest blessings of the future relationship.
These greater blessings that are the result of testing reframe our understanding of life’s hardships. Not every difficulty is evidence that God's love has failed; some hardship is simply part of the engagement, deepening trust and dependence by testing that helps us know the quality of faith that will secure our hearts for earth and eternity. Our joy, in the end, is not rooted in our circumstances but in the security of belonging to the One who endured every test on our behalf to show how genuine and excellent is his love.
RESPOND: Think of a recent hard season. Could it be reframed as part of an “engagement period” deepening your dependence on God for a deeper relationship with Him, rather than a sign of His absence?
Where do you need discernment right now to “approve what is excellent” rather than simply what is permissible in terms of living pure and blameless before God?
Take one specific decision in front of you and ask: is this simply allowed or, as I test it by the standards of God’s truth and love, is it excellent — the best thing, in light of my eternity and the eternity of those who look to me for understanding of Christ’s heart?
PRAYER: Lord, teach me to test and approve what is excellent, not just what is permissible. When hardship comes, help me see it as part of a deepening engagement with You rather than proof of Your absence. Keep my joy rooted in Your love, not my circumstances. And may I test what is good and excellent in my priorities and choices by what most reflects the qualities of Christ’s heart. In Jesus' name, amen.