God desires for His children to bear good fruit. He wants us to be fruitful, not fruitless. Ephesians 5:11 says, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” If we have made the decision to follow Christ and have a relationship with God, then we must turn away from and have nothing to do with the lives that we formerly lived in sin. As believers we need to bear the fruit of repentance, which is the fruit of the Spirit. The Bible tells us in Romans 7:4-5 that we “died to the law through the body of Christ…in order that we might bear fruit to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death.” As children of God, we no longer bear fruit for death, we bear fruit for life, and God has give us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter1:3). In Galatians 5:22-23 we see what fruit we should be bearing in Christ. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).”
The first fruit of the Spirit is love. I find it no coincidence that love is first on the list. The entire chapter of 1 Corinthians 13 is about love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 says that out of faith, hope and love, “the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13 tells us what true love is and it tells us that we are nothing without it. It tells us that if we speak in tongues, prophecy, have faith that can move mountains, surrender our possessions to the poor and our bodies to the flames, but we don’t have love then we are only noisy people who are nothing and gain nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 defines true love. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).” 1 Corinthians 13:8-9 goes on to tell us that prophecies will cease, tongues will be stilled and knowledge will pass away but faith, hope and love will remain. If we ever want to refer to a model of true love, then we need to read 1 Corinthians 13.
According to “How the Spirit Works In and Through Believers/ The Fruit of the Spirit” by Rose Publishing, “love seeks the highest good of others. Love is not based on emotions or feelings. It is a decision to be committed to the well being of others without any conditions or circumstances.” Love is a choice! God showed His great love for us by giving up His only Son so that “whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).” God loves us so much that He could not bear to be separated from us for eternity. In John 15:9, Jesus tells us that He has loved us like the Father (God) has loved Him, and He tells us to remain in His love. The greatest command that Christ ever gave us was for us to love others. “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command (John 15:12-14).” In 1 John 4:7-12 we are again taught the importance of love. These verses also show us that if don’t love others then we don’t truly know God. “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us (1 John 4:7-12).”
Sometimes it is easy to love our parents, children, our spouse, or our friends. Even if we get angry with our loved ones at times or have a disagreement, most of us are still able to love the people in our lives because of the strong bond that we share. What happens if someone close to us makes it next to impossible to love them? We are called to love them anyway. 1 John 3:14 says, “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.” Sometimes we may relationships in our lives that become unhealthy or dysfunctional, and it might be best to set some boundaries and keep ourselves at a distance. However, we can still love people from a distance by praying for them, keeping love for them in our hearts or checking on them from time to time. Sometimes if God calls us to reconcile with people or rebuild our relationship with them in a more healthy way, then we can do so. No matter what happens, we can always choose to love the people in our lives who are close to us or the people in our lives who are acquaintances.
A more difficult question is what do we do with the enemies we have in our lives, with the people in or around our lives that we don’t care for, with people who mistreat or persecute us, with murderers, thieves, rapists, sociopaths and so on that are out in the world? Whoever it is, we need to choose to love those people who often seem un-loveable. As a matter of fact, we especially need to love them, and we need to pray for them! Remember that 1 John 4:7 tells us that love comes from God and if we truly know Him, then we will love others. It is not an easy thing to do, but God never said that this life would be easy. Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:43-48).”
If we are struggling to love certain people, then we need to pray and ask God to forgive us and move and change our hearts. God is a God of justice, and when there is an injustice done to us or someone that we love, then it is natural for us to burn with righteous anger. However, we also need to remember that God is the only good and perfect judge, and after we have taken time to be angry and express our feelings of anger to the Lord, then we need to let go, forgive the person who did us or our loved one harm, and we need to pray for that person. If the person who harmed you is saved, then pray for their forgiveness, forgive them and pray that God will bless them. Also, ask God if there is anything that you have done to hurt the person who has hurt you, and if you feel convicted, then ask God and that person to forgive you. Pray for reconciliation and a renewal of fellowship or at the very least that you and this person may be at peace with one another. If the person who harmed you is unsaved, then pray that they will come to know the Lord, repent, be forgiven, and be blessed. We aren’t called to be in fellowship with nonbelievers, but we are called to love them, and maybe you are the person who will shine God’s light and share His Gospel with them. Walking in love is not always easy to do, but it is not an option. It is a command. It is a choice. Choose to walk in love!
Tomorrow we will learn about bearing the fruit of joy, peace and patience.
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