Series on the Fruit of the Spirit
(The Fruit That is Never Out of Season)
“Love - Building Healthy Relationships”
Introduction
A. Turn to John 15.
B. Example - I was about five or six years old and was walking through a huge store with my father holding his hand. Letting go of his hand for just a minute, I slipped down an aisle to examine a really cool toy. I couldn’t have been gone for more than a minute when I turned around to show the toy to my dad. He was gone, nowhere to be seen. I did what most kids that age do. I panicked! This was the moment I had worried about. My dad had seen his opportunity and seized it! He had ditched me! So I started yelling his name. “Daaadyy!” Fifty men whose first name happened to be “Daddy” peeked around the end of the aisle, but none of them was mine. My panic increased! Now I began to wonder what they did with the left-over kids at K-mart. Did they sell them the next day at a “blue-light” special? “Daaadyy!” I screamed. This time it worked! I saw his balding head and darted for him like a heat-seeking missile. He hoisted me up in his arms and held me tightly. “Daddy,” I cried, “don’t ever leave me like that!” He smiled and said, “How about we make a deal, son? You don’t leave me, and I won’t leave you!”
C. Somehow I believe that’s the kind of deal God wants to have with His children.
D. He wants us to stay close to Him. He wants us to remain connected to Him.
E. We began the new year by discussing the condition of our spiritual hearts. We spent a lot of time addressing different heart problems and working on the cures.
F. Once we’ve got our hearts right, then we need to examine what is flowing out of our hearts.
G. I believe that if our hearts are right with God, then we will produce fruit like that of our Father.
H. This is possible only if we are connected to God; only if we stay close to Him.
I. There’s an important point we need to make right here but let me tell you a story.
J. Example - A young boy used an old fruit tree to escape from his second-story bedroom window, especially when his father was about to punish him. One day the father announced that he was going to cut down the old tree because it had not borne fruit in many years. That night the young boy and his friends purchased a bushel of apples and in the cover of darkness tied fruit to the unproductive branches. The next morning the father shouted to his wife, “Mary, I can’t believe my eyes. The old fruit tree that was barren for years is covered with apples. It’s a miracle because it’s a pear tree!”
1. Point: A dried up, dead branch does not produce fruit. And the branch certainly won’t produce apples if it was meant to produce pears.
2. In order for a branch to produce healthy fruit, it must be properly connected to the vine.
K. John 15:1-10 - “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in His love.”
L. Let’s notice just a couple of points from this text that will lead us into our topic for today.
1. First, Jesus says “I am the true vine.” He could have said, “I am a vine” or “I am the vine,” but he wanted to communicate an important point—he is the only vine that is legitimate. He is the true, real, genuine vine.
a. What’s the point? Jesus is truth; and he is the ONLY vine that branches can be connected to in order to produce God’s fruit!
b. If we want to produce the fruit of the Spirit, we must be connected to Jesus.
2. Second, branches that do not bear fruit are cut off. However, branches that DO bear fruit will be pruned so that they will be even more fruitful.
a. What’s the point? People who call themselves disciples but do not produce any fruit, are illegitimate branches. They profess to be Christians but they have words without actions; they have branches with leaves but no fruit. Jesus says that kind of branch will be “cut off.”
b. On the other hand, when we DO produce fruit, we can expect to be pruned. And God typically prunes his children by discipline. Hebrews 12:10 - “God disciplines us for our good, (WHY?) that we may share in his holiness.”
3. Third, please note the word “REMAIN” or “ABIDE.”
a. Jesus uses the word “Remain” (or “abide”) 10 times in these verses.
b. We must constantly hold on to Jesus, to cling to him and to become like him.
4. Fourth, please note the word “fruit.” In our series, we will be discussing the “fruit” of the Spirit. It’s interesting that the Bible talks of the fruit of the Spirit rather than the fruits.
a. A tree may bear many apples, but all come from the same tree. In the same way, the Holy Spirit is the source of all good fruit in our lives.
b. If we are connected to the true vine, then we should produce all the qualities of the fruit of the Spirit.
5. These series of lessons are about producing the fruit of the Spirit, the very fruit that comes from God himself.
6. We cannot produce it on our own; however, by remaining in Jesus we will most certainly begin to yield a harvest of actions and attitudes that demonstrate we are connected to the true vine.
M. Galatians 5:22,23 - “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
N. Let’s begin by noticing the first fruit of the Spirit: love!
Body
1. The Bible tells us that God is love (I John 4:16). So it is no surprise that the first aspect of the fruit of the Spirit is love.
2. In Christ we are connected to the greatest love, the absolute source of pure, perfect love.
3. If we walk in fellowship with Jesus, we cannot help but be reminded of how to love people with our words, deeds, and actions.
4. Christlike love is called agape love. It is a giving, self-sacrificing love that has its source in Christ’s self-giving love.
5. Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love...My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:9-10, 12)
6. Our relationship with God, with other Christians, and with our “neighbors” is where the reality of our Christianity is lived out.
7. It is love that helps us build healthy relationships with others.
8. However, there are some common misunderstandings about love that we need to address for just a moment.
I. First, Three Common Misunderstandings About Love.
A. Number One - Love develops automatically in an unintentional way.
1. In others words, if we just tell ourselves to “love” someone, then it will happen without any difficulty.
2. Yet, the Bible never presumes that we know how to love other people.
3. Over and over again it instructs us on how to love and why we are to love.
4. As Christians we are instructed to love one another and to love those who do not know Jesus.
a. I John 3:10 - “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”
b. I John 3:11 - “This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.”
c. I John 3:18 - “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
d. I John 4:7 - “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.”
e. I John 4:12 - “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”
f. I John 4:20 - “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.”
5. In a world full of anger, hate, envy, jealousy, and revenge, we are often tempted to act in the same way.
6. Yet, the love that we are to exhibit as people of God requires effort and exertion on our part.
B. Number Two - (misconception) If we understand the definition of love, then we will naturally love.
1. There are some unusual definitions of love. One is: “Love is a feeling you feel you are feeling when you’re feeling a feeling you’ve never felt before.”
2. While there might be many different concepts of love, understanding a concept and acting on that concept are two different things.
3. We hear sermons about the different Greek words for love: eros (Sensual love), storge (family love), phileo (brotherly love or friendship) and agape’ (God’s
love-unconditional).
4. While love involves “feelings,” the bottom line is, love is something we do.
5. The kind of love we are called to do as God’s people is to love even when we do not feel like loving!
6. We are to love when we see no results, even when the object of our love may continue on his or her path of rejecting, avoiding, or turning against us.
7. Jesus spent three years with twelve men. He knew that one would betray him, yet he continued to love him just as he did the other eleven.
8. While someone might be tempted to say, “I can’t do that!” we’d all do well to remember a period of time when we disobeyed God and turned our backs on Him. What did He do? He continued to love us anyway.
C. Number Three (misconception) - Few understand their potential to harm others with words and actions.
1. Our potential for being insensitive to people is huge. Just try to leave the church parking lot after a worship service and see how often others will let you out before them.
2. The fact is, we have no idea how hurtful our insensitive words and actions can be to others.
3. Example - Gary Smalley tells of a young school age child who was waiting
for a school bus on a cold January morning. Other children who were waiting
with him were laughing and playing while Roger stood alone, quiet, looking
at the snow-covered ground. When the bus came, the other kids rushed on
ahead of him. Roger sat alone in the seat most kids avoided, right behind the
bus driver. On the way to school Roger stood up and his books fell to the
ground. To balance himself he leaned on the metal pole by the bus door. When
the bus driver pulled over to the side of the road and opened the door, Roger
stumbled out and fell into the snow—DEAD! The autopsy gave no evidence
of an obvious reason for Roger’s death. But looking deeper into his life may
have furnished an answer. His parents had divorced, and his mother had
remarried. His step father resented his intrusion into their marriage, and his
mother spent very little time with him. Roger began to withdraw from friends
at school. Gradually, he built a lonely, quiet world around himself. His teachers
and friends became weary of trying to understand him and basically left him
alone. With no place of shelter and no words of encouragement, Roger felt
like an empty zero. An infirmity or wound did not kill Roger. He was killed by
a lack of words of love and acceptance.
D. The world can be a cruel and unloving place. That’s why it is so important that
we display the love of God in our lives as Christians.
E. I Thessalonians 3:12-13 - “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow
for each other and for everyone else...May he strengthen your hearts so that you
will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord
Jesus comes with all his holy ones.”
F. We may think that sounds impossible. But if we remain connected to Christ, then
we will be able to demonstrate His love toward others.
II. Second, Our Love Will Demonstrate Itself in the Following Ways.
A. Number One - Love Forgives
1. The Bible instructs us to “forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Colossians 3:13)
2. “If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you. But if you don’t forgive men their sins, your Father will not
forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15)
3. Why shouldn’t we carry a grudge throughout life and hate the people who
harm us? Because hating them just brings greater injury to us.
4. Unforgiveness binds us and causes our spirit to be negative and impure.
5. Henry Ward Beecher said, “Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note—
torn in two and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one.”
B. Number Two - Love Compels
1. Jesus said, “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself”
(John 12:32).
2. His drawing power is his unconditional and sacrificial love.
3. People hunger to be loved. Many live in shame and guilt or have endured
tremendous rejection.
4. They sometimes try to receive love in inappropriate ways, but when they see
God’s pure, unhesitant, compassionate and merciful love for them, they are
drawn to it.
5. Thus we must let Christ’s love flow through us. We must be compelled to love
those who need it so much.
C. Number Three - Love Understands
1. We can choose to see through angry, bitter, hateful people’s actions and
beyond their words to understand that they are likely wounded and trying to
protect themselves.
2. When we love them with God’s love they will see that we are different.
3. Jesus was able to look at crowds of people and feel compassion for them. He
looked beyond the activity, noise and distractions and saw their tremendous
needs.
4. I John 5:20 - “We know also that the son of God has come and has given us
understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who
is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ.”
Conclusion
A. I believe we all know that we are supposed to love others. Love is about giving,
sacrificing and going beyond the minimum.
B. Example - In Letters to an Unborn Child, David Ireland wrote to the child in his
wife’s womb partly because he knew that he may never see the child. While his
wife’s pregnancy developed, David was dying of a crippling neurological disease.
He wrote in one of his letters, “Your mother is very special. Few men know what
it’s like to receive appreciation for taking their wives out to dinner when it entails
what it does for us. It means that she has to dress me, shave me, brush my teeth,
comb my hair, wheel me out of the house and down the steps, open the garage and
put me in the car, take the pedals off the chair, stand me up, sit me in the seat of
the car, twist me around so that I’m comfortable, fold the wheelchair,
put it in the car, go around to the other side of the car, start it up, back it out,
get out of the car, pull the garage door down, get back into the car, and drive off
to the restaurant. And then, it starts all over again; she gets out of the car, unfolds
the wheelchair, opens the door, spins me around, stands me up, seats me in the
wheelchair, pushes the pedals out, closes and locks the car, wheels me into the
restaurant and then we sit down to have dinner. She feeds me the entire meal.
And when it’s over she pays the bill, pushes the wheelchair out to the car again,
and reverses the same routine. And when it’s over—finished—with real warmth
she’ll say, ‘Honey, thank you for taking me out to dinner.’ I never quite know
what to answer!”
C. Prayer
