Daily Scripture Reading Philemon 1:1-14

Human beings tend to try and force people to do what is right. Over time, societies and organizations develop more and more rules in an attempt to make sure all people are treated fairly and without bias. At the same time, people want to be loved.

Today, we will start reading through the book of Philemon. It is a very short book. The first half of the book reminds us that forcing people to do what we want prevents them from loving us, because true love is not forced, it is voluntary.

Philem. 1 ¶ Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, ¶ To Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker,

Philem. 2 and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house:

Philem. 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philem. 4 ¶ I thank my God, always making mention of you in my prayers,

Philem. 5 because I hear of your love and of the faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints;

Philem. 6 and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the full knowledge of every good thing which is in you for the sake of Christ.

Notice the word “knowledge”. Paul did not pray that Philemon’s faith would become effective through feelings or emotions. Instead, he prayed that it would become effective through knowledge.

In recent decades many churches have emphasized feelings while neglecting Biblical knowledge. They are attempting to increase righteousness by encouraging people to feel the presence of God. However, emotions do not lead to conviction and commitment. Truth and knowledge are what cause people to develop unbreakable faith in God.

Philem. 7 For I have come to have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother.

Philem. 8 ¶ Therefore, though I have much boldness in Christ to command you to do what is proper,

Philem. 9 yet for love’s sake I rather plead with you—since I am such a person as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus—

Take note of the contrast in verses 8 and 9 between the concept of command and plead. Paul was an apostle and had the authority and boldness to command Philemon to do the right thing. However, Paul decided to plead with Philemon and give him the ability to do the right thing.

Don’t miss the word “love” in verse 9. By allowing Philemon to choose the right thing, Paul was allowing Philemon to demonstrate love.

Humans have a tendency to want to force people to do the right thing. Sometimes that is appropriate. It is one way for parents to train young children.

On the other hand, if people are forced to do the right thing, then they aren’t doing it out of love. People demonstrate true love when they voluntarily choose to help someone or make sacrifices for another person.

Philem. 10 ¶ I plead with you for my child Onesimus, of whom I became a father in my chains,

Philem. 11 who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me.

Philem. 12 I have sent him back to you in person, that is, my very heart,

Philem. 13 whom I intended to keep with me, so that on your behalf he might minister to me in my chains for the gospel,

Philem. 14 but without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your goodness would not be, in effect, by compulsion but voluntary.

In this verse we see a contrast between compulsion and voluntary, which is the same idea as the contrast between command and plead. If Paul compelled Philemon to do what he wanted, then Philemon could not act in love, which he could do if he voluntarily did as Paul asked.

What are some examples where you compelled someone to do the right thing, but it prevented them from acting in love?

What is a situation you are dealing with now where you have to make a choice between forcing someone to do what is right or giving them an opportunity to demonstrate love?

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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”