Philippians 1:8-11 - God Is Our Witness, God Changes Us

In Philippians 1:8, Paul refers to God as his witness. What does that mean? Basically, God and Paul were tight. They spent a lot of time together because Paul spent a lot of time in prayer. Prayer for his brothers and sisters in Christ, in this case, the Philippians:

"For God is my witness, how I yearn for you with all the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love my 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 the righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." (8-11)

Paul's focus in much of his prayer was on his brothers and sisters. He spent a lot of time with God and so he became more and more like God, desiring good for others. This is the inevitable result of time with God in prayer and getting to know him better. We cannot help but begin to look away from ourselves, taking our own issues and suffering less seriously, and taking God and his mission more seriously.

Paul's time with his Father caused him to yearn for God's will to be done in the lives of the Philippians, for them to made more like Christ, to grow in love, knowledge and discernment and be ready for the return of Jesus. This outward focus was the will of God in the life of Paul - that he pour out his life for the church. This is the will of God for us too. If we spend time with God in his word and in prayer, seeking the good of others, nobody will necessarily know about it but God, but he will begin to give us his heart for others so that we will genuinely yearn for their good and rejoice when they are blessed. This is the heart of Jesus.