LOVE
The Fruit of The Spirit (Part 2)
Galatians 5:22-23
• Galatians 5:16-25 (NIV)
[22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
INTRODUCTION:
What is your favorite drink? Imagine I gave you a large cup filled to the brim. You take a sip and say, “Ah that’s good!” What are you drinking?
What happens if as you take the next sip someone unexpectedly runs into you like a linebacker hitting a running back or a five year old jumping into your lap? Whatever was in the cup is now all over you (and on the carpet too)!
We all know whatever you put into the glass is going to come out if it is upset.
You and I are just like that cup filled to the brim. Whatever is on the inside will come out when we get upset too!
We may try to do “damage control” and cover up some of our spills, but the damage is already done. Like hot coffee our words have sometimes burned our family and friends. Like ice we have chilled relationships. Like grape or tomato juice we have left a stain that can’t be cleaned. Whatever is on the inside will come out!
God wants to change what is on the inside! God doesn’t want to leave us the way He found us.
Bitterness and strife is replaced with forgiveness and love.
Envy gives way to contentment.
Fear becomes peace.
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
When you accept Christ as your Savior the Holy Spirit comes to live within you. The Bible says we are the temple or dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. God made our hearts to be His home. When God makes our heart His home, He begins to redecorate! How many of you men have wives who have a need to redecorate your homes?
o God loves to decorate. God has to decorate. Let him live long enough in a heart, and that heart will begin to change. Portraits of hurt will be replaced by landscapes of grace. Walls of anger will be demolished and shaky foundations restored. God can no more leave a life unchanged than a mother can leave her child’s tear untouched.
It’s not enough for Him to own you; He wants to change you. Where you and I might be satisfied with a recliner and refrigerator, he refuses to settle for a dwelling short of a palace. After all this is His house. Now expense is spared. No corners are cut. “Oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust Him” (Eph 1:19 MsgB). [Max Lucado, Just Like Jesus; page X introduction]
God wants your character to be His character; He really does want you to be just like Jesus. Again as Max says, “God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus.” [Max Lucado, Just Like Jesus; page 3]
One of the best descriptions of the disposition, nature, and personality of Jesus is the fruit of the Spirit. Jesus loves; He is joyful. When you think of Jesus do you imagine Him fearful? No He is at peace. Jesus isn’t in a hurry but is patient. He is kind and good. Jesus isn’t harsh, but gentle, never fickle, but faithful and trustworthy. He won’t lose His temper but is in control of His emotions.
• John 15:5 (NIV)
"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.
Jesus said when we are connected to Him we will “bear much fruit.” As we are in relationship with Christ the Holy Spirit produces His likeness within us. Through the Holy Spirit we “bear fruit”—the fruit of the Spirit.
Remember the fruit of the Spirit is a just one fruit; we don’t produce the FURITS of the Sprit, but the FRUIT of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is one fruit expressed in different ways.
A bunch of grapes may have many pieces of fruit, but nevertheless it is one fruit. You won’t find a grape vine that produces grapes and apples, pears, lemons, oranges, bananas and 101 other fruits; the grape vine produces one fruit—grapes! Likewise grapes can be enjoyed in different ways—plain, dried as raisins, crushed as juice, preserved as jam or jelly, mixed into fruit cocktail, and many other ways.
o Love is the blossom which produces the fruit, in other words from love all the fruit of the Spirit is grown. The fruit of the Spirit begins and ends with love.
o Joy is love rejoicing.
o Patience is love enduring.
o Peace is love trusting.
o Kindness is love serving.
o Goodness is love extending.
o Faithfulness is love proving.
o Gentleness is love touching.
o Self-control is love restraining.
This morning we begin looking at how we can have the fruit of the Spirit develop in our lives.
The fruit of the Spirit is love. (Galatians 5:22)
1. WHAT IS LOVE?
As Americans we love everything from A-Z. We are confused about what love really means.
1. “Eros” – erotic, passionate love
2. “Stergo” – family love
3. “Phileo” – affection, brotherly love, friendship
4. “Agape” – volitional love, self-sacrificing, divine
Which of these four would you say is to be the fruit of the spirit love—“eros,” “stergo,” “phileo,” or “agape?” Yes, AGAPE!
• 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (MsgB)
[4] Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut, doesn’t have a swelled head,
[5] Doesn’t force itself on others, isn’t always "me first,"
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
[6] Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
[7] Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back, but keeps going to the end.
[8] Love never dies.
• 1 John 4:10 (GW)
This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the payment for our sins.
We don’t set the standard for what real love is. GOD SETS THE STANDARD OF LOVE! If you want to know how loving of a person you are, then don’t compare yourselves to the people around you. Check out how much your love compares to the love of God. GOD HAS SHOWN US WHAT REAL LOVE IS.
2. IS LOVE IMPORTANT?
How important is water to a fish?
LOVE IS THE PREREQUISITE! We are nothing without love.
• 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (MsgB)
If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. [2] If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. [3] If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
God isn’t impressed by how much we know. God’s not going to be an accountant and add up all our good deeds to see if we have reached a superior level of spirituality. Nice words are not going to butter God up and make Him feel better about us. God won’t look at any of these things! Why? They are all empty and meaningless without love.
So how important is love? GOD IS LOOKING FOR LOVE IN EVERYTHING WE DO AND SAY!
• Hosea 6:6 (MsgB)
I’m after love that lasts, not more religion.
God doesn’t look at outward appearances. God looks at the heart, and what God is looking for is a heart that overflows with love.
• 1 Peter 4:8 (NLT)
Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
Because love is so important, it brings us to this final and all important question:
3. HOW CAN LOVE BE DEVELOPED IN OUR LIVES?
1. Desire to love.
o Prayer – Ask God to make you more loving! When you ask God will answer!
o Focus on loving others instead of receiving love for yourself.
o A desire to love grows out of the security if knowing that God loves you! You can love others because He has given you His love.
1 John 4:19 (NIV)
We love because he first loved us.
2. Train your tongue.
Someone has said, “Keep your words soft and sweet; you never know when you will have to eat them.”
Two words not to use: always, never
• Luke 6:45 (GW)
The things people say come from inside them.
Remember the glass? Whatever is inside the cup will come out when it is upset. Likewise what is in our heart will find expression. Fill up on love and learn to speak the language of love!
Philippians 4:8
3. Forgive people.
Love doesn’t keep score; it keeps no records of wrongs.
4. Express love in tangible ways
LOVE CAN BE EXPRESSED OR COMMUNICATED IN DIFFERENT WAYS.
o QUALITY TIME.
o GIFTS.
o ACTS OF SERVICE.
o VERBAL EXPERSSIONS—WORDS OF AFFIRMATION.
o LOVING TOUCH.
5. Make a commitment to love! Love is fueled by commitment.
Agape Love—volitional, love is a choice. Love is a decision to act in a certain way. MAKE THE CHOICE TO LOVE AND THEN DON’T CHANGE YOUR MIND—THAT’S COMMITMENT!
Why did Jesus die on the cross? It was the full commitment of His love for you and me.
