Fruit That Is Never Out Of Season: Love Series

Ephesians 4:2 (LB)

He says to make allowance for one another’s faults. Because we love that person. We know what it’s like in a relationship to turn the other cheek, to go the second mile, to be patient with our loved ones. Patience isn’t always easy for us, is it? It’s very difficult for me sometimes. You know what I do when I have a hard time being patient with somebody,? Probably the best thing is for me to constantly remember God’s incredible patience with me. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. While we were unloving and unwilling, he was willing to wait on us.

One of the songs that we used to sing during Christmas time is, "He Was Waiting For Me." When we think of the patience of God, it helps us to be patient with others. And remember last week I said that all nine qualities of the fruit of the spirit are seen in the character of God. So the first thing we understand, biblically, is that love is patient.

2. Love is alive when it cares ... dying when it forgets ... dead when it ignores.

"...love is kind..." I Corinthians 13:4

"Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God has forgiven you." Ephesians 4:32 (LB)

Kindness: The ability to care for each other in the practical details of life. I’ve defined kindness in here for you because I think kindness can be mystical if we’re not careful. I think kindness fleshes itself out in a relationship by just the practical, day in, day out living.

You know, it’s interesting, isn’t it, but it’s often easier to be kind to a stranger than it is to be kind to the people closest to us, who love us the most. It’s sometimes easier to be kind to someone else’s children than to our own. It’s sometimes easier to be kind to a neighbor than to our own spouse. I’ve noticed something else about kindness: it’s very difficult for some people to express. I think something interesting in the last 10 to 15 years has been a major increase in greeting card sales: Christmas cards, birthday cards, get-well cards, friendship cards. There’s an amazing amount of growth in the card industry. I think sometimes we buy cards for one another because it so succinctly says what we really feel but can’t express. And it’s just easier to give a card than to visually or verbally let a person know you love them. I like cards, especially humorous cards. I saw one the other day; I thought it kind of fit in this sermon section: "If I had an ice cream cone I’d give you half. If I had six candies you’d get three. If I had two apples, one would be yours. If I won the lottery, I’d send you a postcard from Tahiti."

I want you to go to Ephesians 4:32 with me, to read some words that we need to latch onto before we go to the next part of love: when Paul said, "Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another just as God has forgiven you." The only way that I can have a relationship with anyone is to have forgiveness at the very core of that relationship.

And that relationship is going to grow and develop, not based on perfection; it’s going to blossom through the willingness of each person to be forgiving. Paul said, "Forgive others as you have been forgiven by God." When I see how God forgave me, I then have the power to forgive someone else. Did you hear me? I believe those who have difficulty in forgiving others have never entered into a biblical understanding of what’s been done for them. Because the moment we understand what God has done for us, it changes our whole view of forgiving one another. Mother Teresa said, "The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather, the feeling of being unwanted, uncared for, and lonely."