Answer to an unspoken prayer

Over the last few days a question has risen in my mind as I've thought about the Christian life and what it is: What is growth? What exactly is the change or difference? To quote Steven Curtis Chapman, "What about the life that's showin' I'm undergoin' the Change?" It seems repetitive and going nowhere: I get up. If I have a quiet time I might feel better about my day; if I don't, perhaps not. I still struggle with the same stuff day after day, week after week; I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere (except deeper into sin), and I'm left with no sense of change or accomplishment. Then I read Philippians 1:9-11.

"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, fillind with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God."

There it is! Reading the Word and praying will not change my actions, but they DO change the abundance of my love, my knowledge and my depth of insight, and the discernment that springs from that allows me to make better decisions--namely, what is pure and blameless. Not to mention the encouragement in verse 6, that Christ will be faithful to complete the good work that he began in me. To quote Mercy Me, "I'm on my way to You." The steps aren't likely to be percieveable now, but given time, I will see the strides I've made in Christ. I'll risk a cliche: spiritual hindsight is 20/20.