From now until after Pentecost, we will be reflecting on the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. It’s all about character and becoming more like Jesus. Paul begins his description of the Fruit of the Spirit with love. This feels so important today. We’re living in a time where there is much anger, bitterness, and frustration. Cyber bullying is real and something not only our youth and children face. This has led to a lot of hurtful words and actions, lots of lashing out, even in churches. There are a lot of hard conversations going on in society today: COVID, racism, economic systems, policing and more. The problem is that many of the conversations aren’t really conversations, but people entrenched in their own opinions talking past each other, and not always graciously. In John 13, Jesus told his disciples, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Just a heads up, love can be really hard at times.
Tracy Earl Welliner reminds us that we
know what love looks like, “it’s a mother holding
her baby and rocking him to sleep when he’s sick and now a teenager, it’s a man
who looks at his wife with more love after 25 years of marriage than on his
wedding day, it’s a woman consoling her friend after a diagnosis of cancer.”
Paul
tells us that without love, much of what many Christians believe is important is
meaningless. We don't gain anything by doing the right things or having the
right beliefs if there’s no love. Jonathan Sacks reminds us that the Old Testament
calls us to love our neighbours once, but calls us to love the stranger 36
times. The test of our love is to love those who are different, "The supreme
religious challenge is to see God's image in one who is not in our image."
It's easy to love those just like you, it's much harder to love those who have
different values, who like different things, or who do things differently than
you like.
Jesus calls us to love God with everything we
have and are and to love our neighbour as ourselves. We know from Jesus what loving him
looks like; in
John 15 Jesus tells us, "As the Father has loved
me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as
I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love." Love commands action by those
able to act. Love’s a response to others that shows grace, compassion and
brings hope, healing, restoration, comfort, and peace. Love builds up,
encourages, and even disciplines, because you desire what’s best for others. The
greatest act of love is Jesus going to the cross to die for our sins and make
us right with God. Paul describes love:
Love is patient. This is about not having an
agenda in a relationship. Love means placing your expectations for what you want
out of the relationship to the side to focus on the other person. So often love
is self-centred, focused on how love makes you feel rather than on the other
person. Patience means focusing on the other person’s needs before you
concentrate on yourself. This may mean you have to wait for the benefits of the
relationship for a while, maybe even a long while.
Love is kind. This is about being generous
and considerate of others, wanting the best for them and helping them achieve
it, even if it sometimes comes at the expense of achieving the best for
yourself. Kindness, respect and grace go hand in hand. Kindness is having a
certain attitude towards others, it's not an emotion. It's allowing the Holy
Spirit to shape your soul, mind and heart so that kindness becomes part of who
you are. Kindness will cost you time, probably money at times, and definitely
heart space for others, but it builds relationships and trust.
Love does not envy. This means that you are
genuinely happy for others and what they've achieved and have. Envy is about
greed and a lack of trust in God, believing God is not giving you what you
deserve. The cure for envy is found in your relationship with God and
cultivating a spirit of contentment and trust in God.
Love does not boast. Love has no desire to make
yourself look better than others. Love approaches others with humility,
recognizing the gifts and talents God has given you, but knowing that they are
to be used to build up the church and those God has placed in your lives. If
you struggle with boasting, ask yourself “Why?” Is it because you feel that
you don't measure up to others, or maybe you're jealous when others get the
attention and you want approval or praise for yourself? Cultivate a spirit of
contentment and trust in God, trusting that God has created you with the gifts
and talents you need to become who God has created you to be, that he has a
purpose and reason for placing you where you are.
Love does not dishonour others. Love recognizes that we’re all
created in the image of God, that God loves all humanity. It's important that
when we’re together, we build each other up and encourage each other. This is
not about simply saying nice things to each other to make them feel good, it's
about desiring that the other person continues to grow in their faith in God,
in their hope and love, and in obedience to God. Honouring others means being
honest in respectful, gentle, and sincere ways as we follow Jesus together.
Love is not self-seeking. Life’s not all about you! It's
about following Jesus and living well in relationship with God and each other.
You're not the center of the universe, God is. Love means that you work to
bless others; not at what the relationship gives you, but at what you give to
the relationship. It’s about sacrificial love for the other person. This is Jesus
love.
Love is not easily angered. It's hard to love if your heart
is ready to burst into flame at the slightest thought that you’re being
slighted, ignored or disrespected. Fear will trigger anger. Today, some fear
the virus, others fear loss of liberty and rights, others fear disunity. Anger
makes it hard to be gracious and forgiving. Along with not
being easily angered, love also keeps no record
of wrongs. When you hold onto bitterness and anger, and the wrongs done
to you, you have not forgiven and you reveal that you don't trust that God’s in
control. Grace and forgiveness come from trusting God. Following Jesus is about
working to be more like Jesus who, even while on the cross, forgave those who put
him there. It's not easy. Love’s not always easy, but remember God loves you in
spite of who you are and what you've done, and he forgives out of his grace to
you. Anger and keeping records of wrong reveals a self-centered faith rather
than a Jesus focused faith. In Romans 12, Paul writes, “Love
must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one
another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”
Love rejoices with the truth. It's important to know who
defines what truth is. Jesus said, "I am the way,
the truth and the life." When love rejoices in the truth, it rejoices
in Jesus, in his work of salvation which has made us right with God and gives
us eternal life with God, while living as Jesus taught. Love reminds us that
Jesus calls us to tell the world of his love and make disciples for him.
Love protects; protects others whether it's
their name, their feelings, or their stuff out of concern for them. You show
your love for God by protecting his name from dishonour in how you live and in
how you treat others. Love trusts. Trust is a choice and builds closeness and
more trust, believing that God is your protector. Should someone break trust with
you, God will work through your willingness to trust him, giving you the
strength and ability to trust again. Trust comes because you believe God loves
the other person and is working in them. Trust is shown in forgiveness and
grace.
Love hopes; looks ahead with the goal of
having good healthy relationships based in Jesus and the working of the Holy
Spirit. Hope keeps us working for healthy Jesus centered relationships. Love perseveres, never giving up because God never
gives up; it never fails because love’s not
based on emotions, but is formed in your character as you follow Jesus. Love
shapes us as a people of God; love needs someone else in order to be love. John
Stott writes, “It needs the whole people of God to understand the whole love
of God.” Love shapes our character as individuals and as a church.
Love reveals a maturity in the faith which is a sign of
the Holy Spirit's work, shaping us into people and a church who are growing in
the character of Jesus Christ. By being a people of love, we give the world a
glimpse of the God of love.
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