“For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus” Philippians 1:8

Whose Testimony Validates Your Actions

Witness – If you needed to call on a character witness, could you make the same claim that Paul makes?  Could you call on God to back your stand without reservation?  This is an amazing statement.  Paul says that his love for the Philippians is so pure, so completely in line with Jesus that God Himself would vouch for it.  I wonder if we could say the same?

Were the Philippians any different than members of our various congregations?  Were they some special kind of saints, so noble and sin free that Paul was instantly compelled to love them?  Not likely.  They were just like the people we know, the ones who sit in the pew behind us.  The ones who speak sharp words to children.  The ones who don’t tithe like we do.  The ones who struggle with prayer.  The ones who haven’t turned over that problem we know about to God’s control.  The ones who are brokenhearted, suffering or sick.  Can we say, “God is my witness that I love them as Jesus loves them”?  If you’re like me, this statement stings.  Oh, I’m happy to be around those who love me, who live in the same protected envelope.  But is God my witness about my love for the outcasts, the ones that I cast out of my circle?

When I realize that the Greek word here is martus, the root of our word “martyr”, I get a better sense of Paul’s claim.  God witnesses my sacrifice, my willingness to put my life on the line, to die for someone else.  This is The Way of the Master.

I want God to be my character witness.  He was the character witness to my Master and I know that if I follow The Way, God will also stand by me.  But I need to be a follower of the entire Way, not the pieces that I like.  And that means taking on the same heartfelt compassion that my Master had for the outcasts of life.  I need to walk in much bigger circles.

What about you?  How big is the circle of your compassion?  Is it big enough for you to say, “God is my witness”?