Love & Other Good Fruit
“We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
1 John 4:16 NLT
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.”
God’s Love for Us
“For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”
Romans 5:5 NLT
In honor of Valentine’s Day, this week I want to talk about love. But where do we begin? Jesus told us that loving God and loving people are the two greatest commandments (Mark 12:29-31). But that’s not where we need to start. Before we can love, we have to let God love us. Why? Because God is love. It all begins with Him.
“Have you wondered what motivated God to design the universe or why He created you? It was love — pure and simple. Even before the beginning of the world, God loved you and wanted to have a close, personal relationship with you that would bring great joy, fulfillment, and power to your life . . . .”
~Charles F. Stanley, 30 Life Principles
God longs to fill us with His love. And He wants us to understand the nature of His love: it is unfailing and undeserved. We cannot do anything to earn it or to lose it, and nothing can separate us from it. God wants us to depend on the fact that He loves us no matter what. That’s hard to accept sometimes. As humans, we quickly learn that we can be hurt by other humans and we begin to guard our hearts. We learn to be careful about trusting others or putting faith in their love for us. But God’s love is not like human love. His love is perfect and it’s forever.
” . . . whatever we might say about God Himself, we must say about His love — it is wise, powerful, and ever present with us. His love penetrates our deepest wounds and causes us to heal, change, and grow. And if we allow His love access, it will overtake us completely — heart, soul, mind, and strength.”
~Charles F. Stanley, God’s Purpose for Your Life
We have to learn to let down our guard and open our hearts to God. We’ve got to let His love fill us completely. Only then will we be able to truly love others.
“We love because he first loved us.”
1 John 4:19 NIV
The Source of Our Power
“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. A branch can’t produce fruit by itself, but must remain in the vine. Likewise, you can’t produce fruit unless you remain in me.”
John 15:4 CEB
God’s love, like His wisdom and His strength, is far beyond ours. The ability to love the way God does requires supernatural power that we do not possess apart from Him. That’s why He gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit when we become believers in Christ. Christ instructs us to “remain” in Him in order to produce good fruit. When we become Christians, the Holy Spirit begins transforming us into the image of Christ, enabling us to reflect Christ’s nature and share His love more and more. It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to develop this “fruit” in us, but it’s our job to stay connected to Him and cooperate with His work.
“The fruit of the Spirit is the spontaneous work of the Holy Spirit in us. The Spirit produces these character traits that are found in the nature of Christ. They are the by-products of Christ’s control — we can’t obtain them by trying to get them without his help. If we want the fruit of the Spirit to grow in us, we must join our life to his . . . .”
Chronological Life Application Study Bible
“My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!”
Psalm 121:2 NLT
The Fruit of the Spirit
“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
Galatians 5:22-23 NLT
The more I learn about the Holy Spirit, the more I realize I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of understanding Him. I know He is God, and I know He somehow communicates with us on the “spirit” level. I know He provides the supernatural power we need to love others and produce good fruit in our lives. But what I find fascinating is that He doesn’t do it without us. God, in love, created us with free will. He doesn’t force us to do anything. He waits for us to choose to trust Him. He waits for us to choose to love Him. His Spirit lives in us, ready to transform us into the image of Christ. But He waits for us to take a step of faith before He unleashes His power.
“God is the source of our love. He loved us enough to sacrifice his Son for us. Jesus is our example of what it means to love; everything he did in life and death was supremely loving. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to love; he lives in our hearts and makes us more and more like Christ. God’s love always involves a choice and an action, and our love should be like his.”
Chronological Life Application Study Bible
As I try to live the way God wants me to live, and love the way God wants me to love, the Holy Spirit provides the power to make it happen. But first, I have to choose . . .
“I CHOOSE LOVE . . .
No occasion justifies hatred;
no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love.
Today I will love God and what God loves.
I CHOOSE JOY . . .
I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance.
I will refuse the temptation to be cynical . . . the tool of the lazy thinker.
I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God.
I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.
I CHOOSE PEACE . . .
I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.
I CHOOSE PATIENCE . . .
I will overlook the inconveniences of the world.
Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite him to do so.
Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray.
Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.
I CHOOSE KINDNESS . . .
I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone.
Kind to the rich, for they are afraid.
And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.
I CHOOSE GOODNESS . . .
I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one.
I will be overlooked before I will boast.
I will confess before I will accuse.
I choose goodness.
I CHOOSE FAITHFULNESS . . .
Today I will keep my promises.
My debtors will not regret their trust.
My associates will not question my word.
My wife will not question my love.
And my children will never fear that their father will not come home.
I CHOOSE GENTLENESS . . .
Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle.
If I raise my voice, may it be only in praise.
If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer.
If I make a demand, may it only be of myself.
I CHOOSE SELF-CONTROL . . .
I am a spiritual being. . . . After this body is dead, my spirit will soar.
I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal. I choose self-control.
I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith.
I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ.
I choose self-control.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
To these I commit my day.
If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek his grace.
And then when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest.
~Max Lucado, Grace for the Moment
“Long ago, even before he made the world, God chose us to be his very own through what Christ would do for us; he decided then to make us holy in his eyes, without a single fault—we who stand before him covered with his love. “
Ephesians 1:4 TLB
This week’s Scripture passages are all about love and the fruit of the Spirit. And to brighten your day, I have included a video below of MercyMe, Matt Maher, and others demonstrating love, joy, peace, patience, and lots of other good fruit in a difficult situation. Back in 2015 their “Rock and Worship Roadshow” got snowed in and they were all stuck in their tour buses. But instead of worrying or complaining, they counted their blessings and passed the time singing. I hope you enjoy their merry rendition of “All You Need Is Love”!
“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.”
James 1:2 NLT
“Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.”
Colossians 3:14 NLT
References:
- “All You Need Is Love (Mercy Me, Matt Maher).” YouTube, uploaded by The Roadshow, 5 March 2015, https://youtu.be/_LLOnzXC1F8.
- Chronological Life Application Study Bible, New Living Translation. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 2012.
- Lucado, Max. Grace for the Moment: Inspirational Thoughts for Each Day of the Year. J. Countryman, 2000.
- Stanley, Charles F. 30 Life Principles Study Guide: A Study for Growing in Knowledge and Understanding of God. Thomas Nelson, 2008.
- Stanley, Charles F. God’s Purpose for Your Life: 365 Devotions. Thomas Nelson, 2020.
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About The Author
Christa
My vision for Wondertakings was to create a devotional blog for "nerdy" Christians like me. I do believe, as Socrates said, that wisdom begins in wonder. So I love to read or watch anything that inspires wonder and figure out what I can learn from it. I view it all through a Christian lens. I believe that God can and does speak through many sources in many ways, even if those speaking are not aware of it. I am not an expert in theology or religious studies. My goal with this blog is simply to share what I've learned as a fellow student and sinner in the Christian walk. My hope and my prayer is that by doing so I may be able to help someone else. In Deuteronomy 5:33 (NLT), we are told: "Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives. . . ." So in the words of Moses (and Spock), live long and prosper, my friends!