Fruit of the Spirit - Love

The first Fruit of the Spirit is Love.  There must be a reason that this is the first fruit.  It seems to me that without love, it is very difficult to live with joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  Love is the foundation and core of the spirit within us.

Psychologists and researchers have attempted to define different types of love with differing views of exactly how many types of love exist.  The three that show up consistently are:

• Eros - the love shared by a husband and wife, the ideal person in our lives 
• Philos - the type of love shared by friends 
• Agape - self-less and unconditional love

Depending on which translation you read, the word love shows up between 250-500 times in the bible. One of my favorites is in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 as it provides an excellent definition of love that applies in all relationships.  

⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud ⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. ⁶ It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷ Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.  1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 (NLT) 

The foundation and creator of love is God.  God IS love.  How can we possibly know, feel or understand real love without God?  We cannot truly love another without first loving God and then loving ourselves as a child of God.    

Loving One Another - ⁷ Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. ⁸ But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. ¹⁰ This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.  ¹¹ Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. ¹² No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. ¹³ And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. 1 John 4:7-13 (NLT)

The worst thing in the world is for anyone to feel unloved and worthless. God loves us, so we know how to love each other. God loves us unconditionally and all of the time.  He may be disappointed in our behaviors from time to time, but he never stops loving us and he never gives up on us. In fact, God loves us so much that he sacrificed his only son, so that we may have eternal life.  What greater love is there? 


¹³ Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. Corinthians 13:13

I love God, I love myself, I love my husband and I love you!  God loves you!  Pass it on!

PS -  A good book for relationships is called the Five Languages of Love, by Gary Chapman.  Check it out.     

Fruit of the Spirit

Galations 5:16-25 (ESV)

Keep in Step with the Spirit 

¹⁶ But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. ¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries,dissensions, divisions, ²¹ envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 
²³  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴ And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

The Apostle Paul listed the nine fruit of the Spirit as guidelines for newly converted Christians. It is a gift from the Holy Spirit giving us the characteristics of Jesus, so that we have an example for how we can live in step with the Spirit.

Every day we make choices. We can choose to live by the desires of the flesh or the fruit of the Holy Spirit. This can be a very tall order at times, especially as we deal with problems or temptations placed before us. It is easy to give in to the flesh and drink too much, eat too much, get angry or cheat on our taxes. At times our hearts are filled with envy or we are jealous and speak poorly of someone else. We lust in our hearts for material objects that become false idols. We are all guilty of some or all of these sins from time to time, but thankfully, our Father loves us and forgives us and gives us chance after chance to start over.

The good news is we have an example and can choose to make a commitment to a goal toward living and keeping in step with the Spirit. We are each a tree of life and capable of producing these different fruits. By our faith and the grace of God, all things are possible. 

In the weeks to follow, I plan to write about each fruit of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

I welcome your comments and thank you for being here.  God Bless You!

A Time for Everything

Ecclesiastes 3:

•  ¹ There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—
• ² A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. 
• ³ A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up. 
• ⁴ A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance. 
• ⁵ A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. 
• ⁶ A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away. 
• ⁷ A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak. 
• ⁸ A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.

 ⁹ What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils? ¹⁰ I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

God Set Eternity in the Heart of Man

 ¹¹ He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart,yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

My Thoughts: 

How is this scripture relevant for us today? By God's design, there is a season and a reason for everything throughout our lives. There is a purpose and time for every event. We don't know what the future will bring but we do know that there will be times for every circumstance in our lives, good or bad and most of which we struggle to understand.  What is the point or purpose of tragic events such as war,  hate, killing and mourning?  I don't know why our only son died just one month after he was born, but I do know that God is a loving and merciful God and has his reasons.  I do know that all of the difficult events of life have made me stronger, smarter and very humble.

For each of us the path of life is unique according to God's plan. He is in control of our lives and he does know our future. He is there to comfort and teach us during our trials and will lift us up and provide healing.  He will rejoice with us during our times of laughter, harvesting and dancing.  He has  made everything appropriate in its time.

Dear Lord,

Thank you for every season of my precious life.  Please give me the presence of mind to know that each experience has a purpose in accordance with your plan for me.  I pray for resilience and patience during times of suffering and a thankful heart in every season.  Thank you for setting eternity in my heart, so I will live a life filled with hope and gratitude.  Amen.

One last thing.  Does anyone remember The Byrds and the song written by Pete Seeger  called Turn, Turn, Turn to Everything Thing Is A Season?  It was a hit in 1965.  (I was a child - smile)

Check out this Utube video:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4ga_M5Zdn4&feature=related

Rest in Peace Whitney Houston

Discouragement

I have been feeling a little discouraged lately.  Have you ever experienced days when you feel sad and discouraged, but not sure why?  On the surface, to the rest of the world, it looks like you have everything that you need, so why be discouraged?

Feelings of discouragement are a natural part of living. Discouragement sometimes sneaks in through a crack in the window and takes over our spirit before we know what has happened. It is a state of mind that leaves us feeling hopeless and lacking in confidence and courage. It paralyzes us with doubt and fear and prevents us from moving forward.

Many things contribute to feeling discouraged, including illness, fatigue, financial pressures, not being able to lose weight, not being able to find a job or get a promotion, failure of a company, death of a loved one and simply too many burdens to bear.  It seems that no matter how many times we try to move forward, we can't. We get stuck. 

Ultimately, we have a choice in how we respond to these feelings. We can give in to restlessness, sadness, frustration, complacency or even depression. We can quit and by doing so, we give in to Satan’s attack, for discouragement is one of his greatest tools and nothing makes him happier than to fill us with fear, self-pity and self-condemnation.

Or…

We can choose to put our trust, hope and confidence in God.  God is the great encourager.  He created us with the spirit of endurance so that we can overcome the trials and challenges of life, not a spirit of giving up or quitting.  He has and will provide us with everything we need to be strong and courageous.  Quite often we are asked to be patient, standing firm in our faith and eventually our prayers will be answered.     

“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.  Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious voice.  Isaiah 41:10 (NLT)

Discouragement is a state of mind and belief about yourself and others. You can change your state of mind and belief from discouragement to courage and a spirit of encouragement.  Don’t let discouragement steal your joy. Face each day with an attitude of gratitude.  Pray. Give encouragement to someone else who needs it. Give thanks and put on the full armor of God.

13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod our feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Ephesians 6:13-17  (NASB)

 There is a Chinese Proverb that reads: “The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.”

Don’t be discouraged. Don’t quit. You are closer than you think.  May God Bless You.

  

Inspirational Video - Check it out
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheWordstoliveby?feature=watch#p/a/u/0/U57BQ1_fNv8