Among all the qualities of God's character produced in us by His Spirit, love seems the most natural, second nature, and easiest to both offer and receive. Love. Indeed, seemingly the easiest of all qualities to model in so very many moments. Love is there in all things, except when love is hard. And it can be hard, can't it?
Let's get real (unpeeled) about love. It can be hard to love people. Love means handing over the remote control when we'd rather keep it, getting up just when we're all settled and in a comfy spot, speaking in a balanced tone of voice when we'd rather be screaming, opening our heart to listen to another when we'd rather allow our own feelings to tumble out. Yes, it's hard to love people.
How can we grow this fruit of love in our lives and in the lives of others, in everything?
Love is not about being nice for the sake of niceness it's about being like Jesus. Love is a committed choice to be there in, Everything. When it's hard to love hard-to-love people, the fruit of love helps us in the EVERYTHING moments of life. As God is the source of all the spiritual fruits, He is the source of love. Because He loves us in the "everything" of life, WE can love others. He shows us the way.
In the "everything" moments, love is a choice. God CHOSE to love us, He did not have to. He wanted to love us, so He chose to love us. We choose to love others.
Love is a committment in, Everything. God is committed to loving us, no matter what. Love stays when it wants to go. It accepts when it wants to reject. It does what it doesn't want to do when it doesn't want to do it. It gets above the "Can't stand this person" moments and, squinting, forces itself to look at that someone the way God looks at them, seeing them flawed, but filled with potential. Love is a committment to keep choosing to love, even when you don't feel like it.
Love others as God Loves us.
Strive to be a Christ Follower.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Our Spiritual Growth is up to God.
When we receive the seed of Hope into the soil of our lives and begin a connected relationship with God, He lives inside of us. We get His spiritual DNA. Like a twenty four hour a day gardener, God tills the soil of our lives until we begin to frow qualities that resemble his nature. By His interest and effort in us, grow into holy orchards.
By our own efforts, based on our own natures, we'll grow fruit of the flesh. It might be nice, but it won't look like Jesus. It won't be peeled fruit. Our best efforts won't grow godliness, because the fruit of the Spirit comes forth only from godly seeds. We can't make ourselves look like God. Only God can do that. Only God can reproduce his nature in us.
We do have a role, however in our growth. Just as we cannot grow spiritual fruit without God, God cannot grow spiritual fruit in us without us. Our job in spiritual growth is to cooperate with the Gardener. Here is what cooperation with the Master Gardener looks like in our lives. First, we are receptive. A seed can't get into hard, clay packed soil. Our job includes staying soft so that we can receive the seeds God wants to plant in our lives. Being receptive can be a challenge at times. When times of resistance arise, we can pray, call a friend, or simply remind ourselves that God is not out to get us with His fruit.
Second, we endure pruning. Part of the growing process involves cutting off what is diseased or no longer necessary or even what is taking nutrients that are needed elsewhere. The third way we cooperate is we stay connected. We can't grow spiritually if we detach from the source of our growth. When we stop hanging out with others who care about growing, we'll probably stop growing too. A leaf doesn't continue growing once it is pulled from a branch. When we let week after week slip by without attending church service, or a study group, or even spending some time opening ourselves to God in prayer, we will shrink rathter than grow.
Ready to get growing? It is up to God to grow His fruit in our lives, but it's up to us to cooperate with Him.
Be a Christ Follower
By our own efforts, based on our own natures, we'll grow fruit of the flesh. It might be nice, but it won't look like Jesus. It won't be peeled fruit. Our best efforts won't grow godliness, because the fruit of the Spirit comes forth only from godly seeds. We can't make ourselves look like God. Only God can do that. Only God can reproduce his nature in us.
We do have a role, however in our growth. Just as we cannot grow spiritual fruit without God, God cannot grow spiritual fruit in us without us. Our job in spiritual growth is to cooperate with the Gardener. Here is what cooperation with the Master Gardener looks like in our lives. First, we are receptive. A seed can't get into hard, clay packed soil. Our job includes staying soft so that we can receive the seeds God wants to plant in our lives. Being receptive can be a challenge at times. When times of resistance arise, we can pray, call a friend, or simply remind ourselves that God is not out to get us with His fruit.
Second, we endure pruning. Part of the growing process involves cutting off what is diseased or no longer necessary or even what is taking nutrients that are needed elsewhere. The third way we cooperate is we stay connected. We can't grow spiritually if we detach from the source of our growth. When we stop hanging out with others who care about growing, we'll probably stop growing too. A leaf doesn't continue growing once it is pulled from a branch. When we let week after week slip by without attending church service, or a study group, or even spending some time opening ourselves to God in prayer, we will shrink rathter than grow.
Ready to get growing? It is up to God to grow His fruit in our lives, but it's up to us to cooperate with Him.
Be a Christ Follower
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