We continue our series on the Fruits of the Spirit today. Read part 1 here. Part 2 here. Part 3 here. Our main text for Fruitful Fridays will be Galatians 5:13-26 (ESV).
Today we begin our discussion of love, the first characteristic Paul mentions. The fruit of the Spirit is a singular word, so each characteristic is not a separate fruit unto itself; rather, they all work together.
While I don't have my study work done on this topic, I do have something to offer today. Know that a more studied post is in the works. We've been busy with neighborhood needs, ironically. God never fails to give me an object lesson on whatever topic he wants me to explore.
Today I want to discuss what love has come to mean in my life, as a fifteen-year Christian.
Love does not come from us, but from God. That's paramount to understand. We are called to love much, but only because the Spirit in us does the loving. Our role is to yield to the Spirit. To walk with Him and stick with Him, not choosing our own path.
Love is nothing if not inconvenient. It's a near-constant denial of self. If you're not willing to inconvenience yourself, you're probably not a good lover.
- Live is reading to your kids when you'd like to check your e-mail.
- Love is buying cheaper make-up so you have more money to give away.
- Love is making a lunch for your husband to take to work.
- Love is peeling and slicing apples for your children's lunches, even though it's time consuming.
- Love is raking your neighbor's leaves since you're already out there.
- Love is noticing needs outside your home and not just feeling sad about them, but meeting them.
- Love is holding and rocking that cranky child, rather than putting a movie in.
- Love is sitting at the table for all your meals so you can pray together, read some Scripture, connect.
- Love is not buying your child a cell phone so you'll always know where he is. Love is being with him.
- Love is pausing when your husband gets home, to hug him, to tell him thank you for his hard work.
- Love is sponsoring a child and spending time writing to and praying for that child and his family.
- Love is praying for all the needs you see, but don't have the means to meet yourself.
- Love is writing cards to lonely people, sick people, discouraged people.
- Love is getting up in the middle of the night to change that bed lovingly, to soothe those fears.
- Love is nursing and cuddling your baby enough, instead of using a bouncy seat or playpen or binky each time.
- Love is biting that naggy tongue when discussing something with your husband.
- Love is taking the time to talk with your children about how Jesus would respond to their dilemma.
- Love is having the kids write more to Grandma and Grandpa.
- Love is holding your blessings loosely so you can dedicate them to God with an open hand.
- Love is forgiving your husband for his transgressions, rather than keeping notes.
- Love is sitting down and praying with the child driving you nuts.
- Love is getting to church on time, rather than stressing over your appearance.
- Love is serving at church, rather than sitting and relaxing there.
- Love is giving your child's good sneakers to the child whose sneakers have holes. Your child's dirty yard sneakers are better than sneakers with holes. Sneakers can be laundered, after all.
- Love is going through your closets to see what is truly needed, and giving the rest to the family with too little.
- Love is keeping a gratitude list so you can say thanks to God. So you can live that thanks.
- Love is not taking more manna than you need, so that the next family will have enough manna.
- Love is looking to Scripture to find enough, rather than using your pocket book to find enough.
Most of all, to love is to give. Your heart, your time, your resources. When you've begun giving more than receiving, meeting others' needs before indulging your wants, than you're loving as Jesus would.
The only thing that truly satisfies? Your Heavenly Father. Fill up with Him and then love others with the overflow. Without that fill-up you'll look to the world for satisfaction. And in the process, you'll only love yourself.
Nancy was a single mother with young children. Her ex-husband sent her only a small amount of grocery money every week--so small it couldn’t even feed 1 person, much less her family of 4. But Nancy decided to begin giving to God from her little bit of grocery money and trust Him to provide. Shortly after, she got a job with a cookbook company. The company paid Nancy to go grocery shopping and prepare meals so they could take photographs for their cookbooks. When they were done taking pictures, Nancy could keep the food she had purchased and prepared. Isn’t that an amazing story of God’s goodness? Nancy learned that even if you’re poor, you still need to learn to give from whatever you have.
While ministering in Africa, I met a Christian worker who raised his 6 children on $10 a month. He told me the story of how children in his village were going blind because of a disease that could be prevented with medicine that only cost 50 cents. He began to pray and ask God to send a rich person to their village to help give the money for the medicine, but no one ever came. As he kept praying, the Lord told him he should give the money to buy the medicine. But with 6 children and only a $10 a month salary, he couldn’t see how he could do this. But he and his family prayed and decided that every month they would buy the medicine to help one child. When I last spoke with him, he'd been doing this for 7 years and had saved 84 children from going blind. And his family saw God meet all of their needs.
After my 40-Day Spiritual Journey to a More Generous Life book became an unexpected bestseller, I was contacted by NBC to do a TV news story. When the TV reporter interviewed me, she asked, “So, you think God wants everyone rich?” I said, “No, I don’t believe that.” She was a little surprised by my answer and then asked, “Well, what do you believe?” I responded, “I believe that everyone needs to learn to become more generous with whatever God has given them.” She then asked, “Well, didn’t your book becoming a bestseller make you rich?” I replied, “No, it helped me become more generous!” The truth is--every one of us in America is rich when you compare us to the rest of the world. What each of us needs to learn is how to become more generous with whatever God entrusts to us.
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