Over the next 9 weeks, I am going to put the focus on this blog towards learning about the fruits of the spirit. Bearing fruit is something I have personally wanted to study even more about. I want to know more about what these different fruits look like in our lives, and how to better develop them.
As a reminder, they are Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness, and Self-Control. (Galatians 5)
The fruit of the Spirit are qualities that develop in a person when they allow the Holy Spirit to work in their lives. And the first one listed is love (greek term, agape). And anyone who has done any sort of study in scripture has at least some idea of how crucial love is to our walk with God.
In the original Greek translation of the New Testament, Agape, one type of love described, goes beyond a feeling we have. There is some feeling involved, but over all, Agape is mostly a choice. Agape love says that, no matter how I feel, or what this person has done, I am going to choose to do good to them. It means you put their needs above yours. In every situation, you choose to lead with compassion and humility. It sometimes could mean that you sacrifice something.
No, it does not mean you allow abuse or toxic behavior. However, it does mean that you leave revenge and justice in God's hands (Romans 12:19). How God does that and how He works is a whole other topic in itself.
It's a crazy time we are living in, is it not? We are living through a pandemic. We are fighting over whether or not to wear masks. It's a Presidential election year. I could go through a whole list of things, but we all know the big things that are going on.
In the midst of this craziness, it is easy to forget what matters the most. When there is so much controversy, it's hard to slow down.
But, we need to do just that. When we go too fast in our lives, we turn our eyes away from God. Our hands turn the steering wheel in the opposite direction. We drive down a dead end dirt road at 100 mph in the dead of night. Where love leaves, chaos and pain ensue.
Slow down. Bite your tongue, and take your fingers off of the keyboard. Walk away from the urge to argue pointless things. With everything going on, it is so easy to allow love to fall out of our grasp.
As Christians, we ought to be about two things all of the time: Loving God, and loving people. Everything else is not worth sacrificing these two most important things.
"And when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with a question: 'Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the law?'
Jesus declared, 'Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all your soul and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:34-38.)
In His ministry, Jesus told His followers and the people listening that the most important laws above all others were to love God, and love others. These two laws should be the center of our walks with God. If we get these wrong, well, my dear friends, we get EVERYTHING else wrong.
Every command given to us comes off of these in one way or another. Love is what should drive our hearts to honor God and people. Anything that dishonors or disrespects God or our fellow man is sin.
"If I speak in the language of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all that I have, and deliver myself to be a martyr, but have no love, I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
You can have all the biblical knowledge in the world. You can say all the right things, convince an entire crowd of something in God's law. You can believe these things with all your heart. Yet, if you do not walk in love, none of these things matter.
Because God is love (1 John 4:7-8), we cannot begin to even get close to His heart if we are filled with hatred and disdain for our fellow man. Many of the Pharisees were very much this way. They tried to make themselves look as good and righteous as they possibly could.
Yet, they had no real relationship with God. They worshipped and loved the law itself rather than God. Many of them also had no love for their fellow man and those they considered beneath them. They gave and donated money not out of love or care for others, but just to complete a checklist to appease God.
Are you this way? Really think and consider. Do you tend to go through the motions of our weekly religious traditions? Do the songs and hymns we sing in worship not move your heart in any way? Are you filled with awe of God's love for you? Do you really consider the place the lesson has in your life? How often do you spend time in service to others in some way? Do you speak with God as if He is actually your Father? Do you see Him that way?
Ask yourself these questions. God is looking for people to love Him and people.
Challenge yourself. Compare yourself to the words of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.
-Are you patient and kind? (v. 4)
-Do you get jealous of others a lot? Or, do you constantly compare your life to others and get down about what you don't have? (v. 4)
-Do you often think things like "At least I'm not doing what he/she's doing!" (v. 4)
-Do you tend to not think much about what you say before you say it? Do you have no filter? Do you say things that are inappropriate to other people? (v. 5)
-Do you think more often of yourself? Do you get irritated when others don't do things the way you think it ought to be done? Do you lash out at others when things don't go your way? (v. 5)
-Do you allow your bad moods to determine how you treat others? (v. 5)
-Do you find yourself getting happy when someone gets their 'just desserts' (not talking about righteous justice, but vengeance)? Do you laugh when someone is humiliated in some way, no matter who it is? Do you tend to laugh at things that are out of step with what love is (dishonoring to God, and dishonoring to your fellow man.)? Do you sometimes not speak up when wrong is being committed (abuse, harassment, prejudice, etc....)? (v. 6)
-Do you give up when things get hard or shut down? Do you lose hope? Do you patiently wait things out and never give up? (v. 7)
None of us will ever be completely perfect in any of the things above, as we are imperfect, broken people. However, the closer we move to God, the more He helps us to learn and understand more of what love truly is. The closer we get to Him and love Him more, the more He helps us love people even better.
In 1 John 4:7-21, we learn that God Himself is love. All the qualities in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 are traits that God Himself has. When we move closer in a relationship with God, the more we start to look like Him.
Love impacts the growth of all the other fruits of the spirit. If you have not love for God or fellow man, you cannot hope to properly bear the other fruits in your life. Love moves you to act. When love (Agape) takes over someone's heart, they don't stay stationary. They are moved to hold a hand to the broken, the marginalized, the poor, and sick. They are moved to tell the world of a Father who loves them and wants to show them that love.
This love does not stay confined to a pew, or within the confines of a church building or one's home. Love branches out, explodes; and it changes every interaction someone has with people of the world.
God's love moved my heart. Though I am not perfect, He continues to move my heart. I want to be better and I want to be closer to His heart. I am His daughter, and He is my Father. I never, ever want to get to a point where His love doesn't fill me with awe and wonder.
I want it to move yours, and to know how very deeply loved you are, dear friend. Love is where it begins. And the best part? This love has no end.
Love,
Chelsea
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