I always thank my God when I pray for you, Philemon, because I keep hearing about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God's people. 

Philemon 1:4-5 NLT

Philemon's testimony is given by others. His reputation is faith in Jesus and love for others.

I wonder if we tend to see the externals (she's a great teacher, he's a wonderful worship leader) and miss character, heart, the whole person? 

Whatever it is that Philemon does, others see faith in Jesus and love for others, and that's what Paul recognises as important. It's a heart thing.

Our culture, our world wants us to focus on performance, rewards performance, yet, even as we look at the Olympics and marvel at human performance, it's the moments when we see people's hearts, what makes them tick, the emotions, hear what's important to them, that is what sticks and makes the games special.

Paul's sharing of what he knows of Philemon's heart and motivation is an invitation to go a little deeper with our friends, those we know, those in our orbit. And it's an encouragement to simply live out our love and faith without concern about whether we're seen or not.

#Philemon 

#faith

#loveforothers

#itsaheartthing