Bearing the Fruit: Love

1 Corinthians 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and  if i deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Most of us have heard the thirteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians read at weddings.  But if you restrict this passage to marriages only then you are not producing the fruit of love as Christians are supposed to.  As Christians, the concept of love is totally different from what today's society would have you believe.  The world today views love as some abstract emotion that is felt between people who are close with one another.  As Christians we should know that love is an action that should be shown towards EVERYONE.  If you love someone, then it should be evident to others through your actions.  You may not be thrilled about the thought of loving everyone but you should know that you're not alone.  Whenever we hear this we all have that one person who pops into our mind and we think, "Oh no.  That means I have to love that person too."  It's not easy but we are nevertheless called to do it.

Matthew 5:43 You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.  For he makes the sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have?  Do not even the tax collectors do the same?  47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others?  Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Here is Jesus telling us that it is not enough for us to love as the world around us loves.  We have to show that we love everyone just as Jesus did.  We have to remember that we are just as dirty and rotten as everyone else.  We all have that sinful nature that makes us do things we know we shouldn't.  This has caused us to sin not just against God but against each other as well.  If you have trouble loving someone because of something they have done to you, then you need to ask yourself who has trouble loving you because of something you have done to them.  If someone is persecuting you then pray, for them.  I don't know the situation; maybe they are doing it for no reason or maybe they feel you have wronged them.  It doesn't matter because we are still called to love them and to pray for God's mercy and grace be made apparent to them.

1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

Read that passage again while remembering that love is a verb.  You are called to have patience and show kindness to EVERYONE.  You do not feel jealousy towards or brag to ANYONE.  You must be humble to EVERYONE; there is no room for pride when you are trying to show someone that you love them.  If you are filled with pride then you are making it about yourself; loving someone is you making it about them.  You must be polite with EVERYONE.  You can't have the attitude, "It's my way or the highway!" See what I said earlier about pride.  You are to conduct yourself in a calm manner and do not hold grudges against ANYONE; forgive EVERYONE.  Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. You shouldn't encourage ANYONE to do something wrong and never hold it against ANYONE for being honest.  When you are filled with God's true love then you can withstand anything, believe that all is possible with God, be secure in the hope of His promises, and thus be able to last through anything that comes your way.  If you are truly filled with God's love, then you are filled with the love that will be with you throughout eternity.

1 John 3:16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.

This is more evidence that love is more than just a feeling but an action.  It is not enough just to say that you love someone.  You have to show that you love them with your actions.  There are several different ways to show your love for someone.  You can be a servant.  I'm not saying to just dedicate your life to taking care of one person's needs, but to just do things that help out others.  Don't refuse to help those who need it.  The most important thing that you can ever do to show your love for someone is to share the Gospel with them.  Even if that person is a fellow Christian.  It is important for us as Christians to keep the Gospel firmly before us so that we might keep our humility and continue to progress in our sanctification.  But for those who do not yet believe, the Gospel is the message of love and hope that they have been looking for, they just don't know it yet.  So examine yourself.  Make sure that you are filled with the true love that is God's love so that you can go out into the world and through a life of servitude show this broken world what it truly means to love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Bearing the Fruit: Introduction

 Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.  16 You will recognize them by their fruits.  Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistle? 17 So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear good fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

You are probably wondering what good fruit that Jesus is talking about here.  Is He talking about evangelizing?  The answer to that is yes, sort of.  Keep in mind that the "diseased trees" try to spread their beliefs as well.  In this passage Jesus is specifically referring to the way in which we live our lives.  What good does it do if you profess belief in Jesus but do not live your life the way that He wants you to?  Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'   We produce good fruit by doing God's will, not just professing belief in Him. 

While Matthew 7 does teach us how to tell the false teacher from the good, it should also cause you to examine yourself in order for you to make sure that you are in line with God's Will.  In the book of Galatians, Paul gives the people a list of things that should not be done followed by a list of characteristics that should be shown by anyone who truly accepts Jesus as their Lord.

Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.  I warn you as I warned you before, that those things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 

While the list of things that you shouldn't do is important, the list of things you should do is far more important.  By verses twenty-two and twenty-three we know that the fruit produced in us by the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  These are the things that as Christians, we should examine in order to test that we are following Christ as we should.  These fruits are a gift from God through the Holy Spirit that we received through our salvation.  Therefore, anyone who has truly repented of his or her sins and trusted his or her life to Jesus will exhibit these characteristics.

There is something I would like to clear up at this point.  Just because you do not perfectly exhibit the fruits of the Spirit does not mean you are not saved.  While we have been justified through Christ Jesus our Lord we have yet to be completely sanctified.  Indeed our sanctification will not be completed until we die or Jesus returns.  We are sinful creatures; therefore we cannot perfectly exhibit Christ's characteristics but we are called to pursue them with all that we have and that is what makes the difference. 1 Timothy 6:11 But as for you O man of God, flee these things.  Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness,  gentleness.  In the next verse Paul urges Timothy to, "Fight the good  fight of the faith."  As Christians it is important to realize that nothing in this world is a bigger obstacle to us than our own sinful natures.  Romans 7:18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.  For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.  The fruits of the Spirit are not natural for us.  That is why it is so hard for us to exhibit them, and why it is so important for us to exhibit them.  These are the things that set us apart from the rest of the world.

For the next little while each post I make is going to be over one of the fruits of the Spirit so that you might gain a better understanding of  them that you might be able to accurately test yourself to make sure that you are exhibiting them.  If you find that you are seriously lacking in these fruits then I would suggest you take a step back and completely reexamine your faith.  Have you repented of your sins? Do you really believe that Jesus was crucified in payment for your sins? Do you believe that Christ was raised from the dead after three days in a victory over death? Have you confessed that Jesus is your Lord?  If you have truly done these things then you should be able to look at your life and see the influence that Christ has had on you.  Have you completely devoted your life to Him?  By examining the fruits of the Spirit I hope that we can better understand the types of lives we are called to lead as Christians.  Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.