"I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ."
This verse is part of a letter from Paul to Philemon, in which Paul asks Philemon to free Onesimus, his runaway slave. Onesimus was now a Christian and every Christian has a duty to share the Lord and to develop their faith. Onesimus would need to be a free man in order to truly serve Him.
We must all deepen our “understanding of every good thing”, that is to say, we must mature in our spiritual path. We must grow, in our faith and in our knowledge of the world. This is “for the sake of Christ”, a way of serving Him. To serve him fully, we must all continue to grow with Him and spread his word.
Every person will have different gifts, different paths of growth, and ways of sharing Christ with others. Philemon needed to practice forgiveness and free Onesimus so that he could use his gifts for their common purpose: to serve God.
