Cultivate the Fruit of the Spirit
Love
Galatians 5:16-25
A few months ago, we as a church went through a series titled “Doing Church as a Team”. Towards the end of the series, we took a small “side step” and spoke about making sure that we were developing the Fruit of the Spirit in our own lives first before we moved ahead in any form of ministry.
Well something stuck with me there, and the more I prayed and sought out what we as a congregation were going to study together I kept coming back to the Fruit of the Spirit. So I thought, what better way to start a new year than with these very paramount qualities that we must take the time to cultivate.
cul·ti·vate vt
1. to work land or prepare soil for growing crops
2. to grow a plant or crop
3. to break up soil with a tool or machine, especially before sowing or planting
4. to improve or develop something, usually by study or education
5. to develop an acquaintance or intimacy with somebody, often for personal advantage
6. to civilize or educate a person or group
Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
These are some very interesting definitions when you in turn take the Fruit of the Spirit and insert them into these definitions in regards to our own lives.
Galatians 5:16-25 NASB
16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
So Paul has basically given the Galatians a laundry list of sorts. These are the “desires of the flesh”, and as you are about to see, a stark contrast to the Fruit of the Spirit.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Can you see the picture that Paul is painting here? It’s awesome! He’s saying, when you gave your life to Jesus, all the desires of the flesh that we carry were put to death when Jesus was crucified!
So now, we have been given the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ place here on earth. And if we are truly walking by the spirit, these are the fruit that our lives will bear.
Jesus echoes this in:
Luke 6:43-45 (NLT)
43 “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 44 A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thorn bushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. 45 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.
Every time I read Galatians 5:22 and 23 it is a reminder that I need to develop every one of these Fruit more. Not just one or two, and the rest I already have covered; but ALL of them.
Yes, some do come more natural than others, but this is not a Fruit basket that I can pick and choose from. All (absolute) Fruit of the Spirit are equally important, and All must be developed in me constantly. Verse 25 (NLT) sticks out:
Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
So right there Paul is saying that if we are truly living by the Holy Spirit, we will allow its leading in ALL (there’s that absolute again!) parts of our lives. I cannot just focus on just some parts or fruit, because then I will become unbalanced, and as it reads earlier in this chapter, that stems from my own selfish ambitions.
If we look ahead to Chapter 6, it says that “we will reap what we sow.” It would be wise of us to remember that not only in terms of the sin in our lives, but the cultivation of the Fruit of the Spirit also!
So what I’d like to do over the next month and half, is examine each Fruit of the Spirit. But each week I’d like to examine how God is calling us to “Cultivate” them within our lives, so that we can begin to “Walk by the Spirit”.
-Prayer
Today I want to examine closer the first Fruit listed, LOVE.
“Love is the Christian’s trademark.”
- T.T. Crabtree
1. Definition of Love
Webster’s Definition:
love: 1 a (1) : strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties
2 : warm attachment, enthusiasm, or devotion
3 a : the object of attachment, devotion, or admiration
And that’s just the noun!
Ralph Sockman said, "Love is an overworked word for an underemployed emotion."
The problem with The world’s view of love is that no matter what, it’s fleeting- here today gone tomorrow.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13 (NLT)
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not selfseeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
The Greek language has four words for love:
A. Storge - affection, specially used of the love that parents and children exchange.
B. Phileo - A fondness, a tender affection that develops in the warmth of love shared between friends...Philadelphia -brotherly love.
C. Eros - the love of a man for a woman, embracing all the aspects of sexual desire. It is the love that has passion in it.
This love seems to be the one most preached in our society today doesn’t it?
Two things: This type of love is not mentioned in the New Testament, except in the context of marriage – so it’s important, but because this is the only mention it’s not the most important!
It is not the type of love that bears all things, Believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
D. Agape
This was not a word used commonly in the classical Greek.
In fact it was an orphan word, devoid of any fixed heritage that gave it special meaning within Greek thought.
It was literally the New Testament that redefined Agape a new definition of what it meant.
Unconditional affection
No matter what someone may do to us in the way of insult, injury, or humiliation, we will never seek anything else except their highest good.
It is silence – when your words would hurt.
It is patience – when your neighbor’s curt.
It is deafness – when a scandal flows.
It is thoughtfulness – for other’s woes.
It is promptness – when stern duty calls.
It is courage – when misfortune falls.
[Source Unknown]
That kind of love can only be found through the agape unconditional, unmerited love of Jesus Christ.
Agape love is and expression of who God is, God is love.
Ephesians 1:3-5 (NLT)
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.
So God “Loved” us even before creation, and he did so unconditionally that He sent His Son as a sacrifice so that we may come unto Him. In this regard, this is the type of Love that we need to “cultivate”.
That seems like a tall order, I know. But it is not impossible!
2. We must Love God’s Son
Charles Spurgeon writes in his book “Being God’s Friend”:
“Love belongs to the heart, and every surgeon will tell you that a disease of the heart may not be trifled with. A gifted doctor said to me, “I feel at ease with any matter if it does not concern the head or heart.
Solomon charged us (Prov. 4:23) “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” If the mainspring fails, all the works of a watch refuse to act. We cannot therefore, think little of a question that concerns our love, for it deals with a vital part of us. O Friends, I hope there is no question about your love for Jesus.”
Isn’t that great? If you want to know how to love unconditionally, you have to first love Jesus! It is the beginning of understanding true love.
1 Timothy 1:12-14 (NLT)
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him, 13 even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. In my insolence, I persecuted his people. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief. 14 Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus.
To know Jesus and love Him is to understand what Agape Love is. But it doesn’t stop there.
1 John 5:1-3 (NLT)
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. 2 We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. 3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.
I like this verse because it states that when we love God, we love His commands and they are not something that we consider burden. We do them as an overflow of the Love that God has placed in our hearts.
3. Love must be a Verb
Action is the natural progression when we have committed to loving Jesus. In fact you can’t stop it.
Love to read God’s Word
Psalm 119:104-105 (NIV)
104 I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. 105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
Love to hear God’s Word
1 Peter 2:2 (NLT)
Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation.
Love to attend God’s house
Hebrews 10:25 (NLT)
And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
Love to help in God’s work
Matthew 28:19
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
NOTE: Serving God’s purpose should be a joy for the believer – as an individual or corporately as a church.
Love towards Others
1 John 4:7-8
Let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love, does not know God, because God is love.
Christ, our Savior, Our Lord, Our King – has commanded us to love unconditionally – just as He has unconditionally loved us.
1 John 3:16,18
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
If we are going to show others what love is, we have to do through our actions. But our actions must have love behind them.
1 Cor 13:1-3
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is so important. We must constantly be reminded to cultivate this Fruit of the Spirit, because it is where the rest begin.
John 13:34-35
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
-Prayer
