Fruits of the Spirit-Love
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The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22 ASV)
This month we will be begin a series on this important verse. The fifth chapter begins by reminding us that we are free in Christ. The opposite of Christian freedom is moral slavery. He then continues by contrasting moral freedom and moral slavery with lists for each. Paul stresses that Christianity is not about following the rules (vs. 4). It based on faith. However, he then surprises us by saying that faith is not based on belief (to which many contemporary Christians ascribe). Faith must be expressed through love (vs 6). Paul is saying here that our faith does not depend on our belief system but our overt actions. It is these overt actions that express the Fruit of the Spirit.
Love
Paul leads off his list with love. Although we can prove that being first on the list meant Paul thought is was the most important fruit. However, it was not uncommon for list makers in his day to put the most important item on the list in first place.
So much has been written on love that we might seem presumptuous to add our small bit to the world’s literature and sacred writing on the subject. Of the many different varieties of love C. S. Lewis identified four from the Bible and classic literature), Christian love, or agape, is the most difficult to grasp and almost impossible to practice.
Christians do not have a monopoly on love. In fact, we often act in ways that are definitely non-loving. Many Bible scholars believe that this is our greatest sin in need of the most forgiveness. If we are known by our fruits, and love is the first-fruit, then we compromise our faith when we act in ways that exclude love. We all know easy it is to love certain people: new babies, friends who treat us well, people who can make our lives better, people we are "in love" with, people who agree with us, people we admire. When we add up all these people, they are a small subset of humanity.
This "tribal" love was important thousands of years ago when survival was an everyday occurrence. It was a love that had boundaries to help protect us and our loved ones. It worked. Love and hatred operated in tandem to help us surmise who to avoid and who to let in.
Jesus turned this arrangement on its head. Living in a society where tribal love was the norm, he associated with the unloved, those who lived on the margins of society. Not that he hated those in power, Jesus rebuked them because they were unable to love the outcast. Because there was no love for these people, the powerful could easily manipulate and use them for their own purposes. Jesus set the standard for how we are to love the
unlovable.
The Enemy wants to turn back the clock to have us live a life of tribal ethics. When we let our resentment and bitterness run rampant, we reject Jesus’ teachings. Our upcoming book is designed to help you defeat the Enemy and see that regardless of what people do, they still have infinite worth: "For God so loved the world . . ." By fighting the Enemy, we can learn to discriminate between anger (about someone’s behavior) and resentment (about their worth). Only then can we begin to enjoy the fruit of the Spirit.
www.RenewingYourMind.us
This month we will be begin a series on this important verse. The fifth chapter begins by reminding us that we are free in Christ. The opposite of Christian freedom is moral slavery. He then continues by contrasting moral freedom and moral slavery with lists for each. Paul stresses that Christianity is not about following the rules (vs. 4). It based on faith. However, he then surprises us by saying that faith is not based on belief (to which many contemporary Christians ascribe). Faith must be expressed through love (vs 6). Paul is saying here that our faith does not depend on our belief system but our overt actions. It is these overt actions that express the Fruit of the Spirit.
Love
Paul leads off his list with love. Although we can prove that being first on the list meant Paul thought is was the most important fruit. However, it was not uncommon for list makers in his day to put the most important item on the list in first place.
So much has been written on love that we might seem presumptuous to add our small bit to the world’s literature and sacred writing on the subject. Of the many different varieties of love C. S. Lewis identified four from the Bible and classic literature), Christian love, or agape, is the most difficult to grasp and almost impossible to practice.
Christians do not have a monopoly on love. In fact, we often act in ways that are definitely non-loving. Many Bible scholars believe that this is our greatest sin in need of the most forgiveness. If we are known by our fruits, and love is the first-fruit, then we compromise our faith when we act in ways that exclude love. We all know easy it is to love certain people: new babies, friends who treat us well, people who can make our lives better, people we are "in love" with, people who agree with us, people we admire. When we add up all these people, they are a small subset of humanity.
This "tribal" love was important thousands of years ago when survival was an everyday occurrence. It was a love that had boundaries to help protect us and our loved ones. It worked. Love and hatred operated in tandem to help us surmise who to avoid and who to let in.
Jesus turned this arrangement on its head. Living in a society where tribal love was the norm, he associated with the unloved, those who lived on the margins of society. Not that he hated those in power, Jesus rebuked them because they were unable to love the outcast. Because there was no love for these people, the powerful could easily manipulate and use them for their own purposes. Jesus set the standard for how we are to love the
unlovable.
The Enemy wants to turn back the clock to have us live a life of tribal ethics. When we let our resentment and bitterness run rampant, we reject Jesus’ teachings. Our upcoming book is designed to help you defeat the Enemy and see that regardless of what people do, they still have infinite worth: "For God so loved the world . . ." By fighting the Enemy, we can learn to discriminate between anger (about someone’s behavior) and resentment (about their worth). Only then can we begin to enjoy the fruit of the Spirit.
www.RenewingYourMind.us
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