Fruit of the Spirit : Week Two
And the Fruit of the Spirit is Love
What is Love: (1 Cor. 13)
- If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
- And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
- If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
- Love is patient and kind; (When your brother leaves a mess on your side of the closet)
- Love does not envy or boast; (Love never looks sideways, in want or in plenty)
- It is not arrogant or rude. (Love and pride cannot coexist)
- It does not insist on its own way; (Love submits – Obeying parents is a form of loving them)
- It is not irritable or resentful; (Love and bitterness cannot coexist)
- It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. (Love and justice)
- Love bears all things, (Love is sacrificial)
- Believes all things, (Love is quick to believe the best)
- Hopes all things, (love is slow to believe the worst)
- Endures all things. (love is not fickle)
- Love never ends. (love is not momentary)
o As for prophecies, they will pass away;
o as for tongues, they will cease;
o as for knowledge, it will pass away.
o For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
o When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
o For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.
o Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Three Fold Love (From The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky)
Brothers, have no fear of men’s sin. Love a man even in his sin, for that is the semblance of Divine Love and is the highest love on earth. Love all God’s creation, the whole and every grain of sand in it. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love. Love the animals: God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled. Do not trouble it, don’t harass them, don’t deprive them of their happiness, don’t work against God’s intent. Man, do not pride yourself on superiority to the animals; they are without sin, and you, with your greatness, defile the earth by your appearance on it, and leave the traces of your foulness after you — alas, it is true of almost every one of us!
At some thoughts one stands perplexed, especially at the sight of men’s sin, and wonders whether one should use force or humble love. Always decide to use humble love. If you resolve on that once for all, you may subdue the whole world. Loving humility is marvelously strong, the strongest of all things, and there is nothing else like it.
Every day and every hour, every minute, walk round yourself and watch yourself, and see that your image is a seemly one….. Brothers, love is a teacher; but one must know how to acquire it, for it is hard to acquire, it is dearly bought, it is won slowly by long labor. For we must love not only occasionally, for a moment, but forever. Everyone can love occasionally, even the wicked can.
Love is passionate. The Father Loves us completely. He loves us in Christ at all times. He overflows with a desire to see us blest. This love looks outward, away from what you want to do. With your brother and sister it is an attitude that gives to them even when they are being mean and nasty and annoying. You love them, and bless them with things. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing, in heaven and on earth. And we do the same for others, we seek to bless as much as we can.
Love is humble, and sacrificial. Jesus loved us so much that He died for us. He said, “No man has greater love than this, that he lay down his life for a friend.” This may mean giving up what you want to do so that your brother or sister can do something. It means giving up your own desires for the desires of others.
Love is wise, and the Spirit guides us in how we love. In overflowing with love and desiring to bless we don’t give unwisely. Example: Your brother wants to play with something that you know he shouldn’t play with and isn’t allowed to play with. Love in this case stops him from playing with it, instead of allowing him to continue. So blessing others does not always mean giving them opportunity to do what they want to do. It means always giving them what they need. And this takes wisdom.
Love is an attitude that is the foundation to whatever you do. Jesus also says that the world will know that we are His disciples, by how we love one another. This is also the first and second greatest commandment: Love God, love neighbor. We are commanded to love. And this is why we are given the Spirit. He plants the seeds and waters and gives sunshine, and prunes, and brings fruit. He paints a picture, and hangs it on our walls. He displays love on us.
Why should we? Why should we love others? Well if the fact that we have been commanded to by the God of all Creation is not enough, it should also be a response of Gratitude. We have been loved in this way, fully and completely with our betterment and blessing as the goal. This is how we honor God as God, and how we give Him thanks. We acknowledge that God has done this, and we in return act likewise to others.
What is Love: (1 Cor. 13)
- If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
- And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
- If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
- Love is patient and kind; (When your brother leaves a mess on your side of the closet)
- Love does not envy or boast; (Love never looks sideways, in want or in plenty)
- It is not arrogant or rude. (Love and pride cannot coexist)
- It does not insist on its own way; (Love submits – Obeying parents is a form of loving them)
- It is not irritable or resentful; (Love and bitterness cannot coexist)
- It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. (Love and justice)
- Love bears all things, (Love is sacrificial)
- Believes all things, (Love is quick to believe the best)
- Hopes all things, (love is slow to believe the worst)
- Endures all things. (love is not fickle)
- Love never ends. (love is not momentary)
o As for prophecies, they will pass away;
o as for tongues, they will cease;
o as for knowledge, it will pass away.
o For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
o When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
o For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.
o Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Three Fold Love (From The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky)
Brothers, have no fear of men’s sin. Love a man even in his sin, for that is the semblance of Divine Love and is the highest love on earth. Love all God’s creation, the whole and every grain of sand in it. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love. Love the animals: God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled. Do not trouble it, don’t harass them, don’t deprive them of their happiness, don’t work against God’s intent. Man, do not pride yourself on superiority to the animals; they are without sin, and you, with your greatness, defile the earth by your appearance on it, and leave the traces of your foulness after you — alas, it is true of almost every one of us!
At some thoughts one stands perplexed, especially at the sight of men’s sin, and wonders whether one should use force or humble love. Always decide to use humble love. If you resolve on that once for all, you may subdue the whole world. Loving humility is marvelously strong, the strongest of all things, and there is nothing else like it.
Every day and every hour, every minute, walk round yourself and watch yourself, and see that your image is a seemly one….. Brothers, love is a teacher; but one must know how to acquire it, for it is hard to acquire, it is dearly bought, it is won slowly by long labor. For we must love not only occasionally, for a moment, but forever. Everyone can love occasionally, even the wicked can.
Love is passionate. The Father Loves us completely. He loves us in Christ at all times. He overflows with a desire to see us blest. This love looks outward, away from what you want to do. With your brother and sister it is an attitude that gives to them even when they are being mean and nasty and annoying. You love them, and bless them with things. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing, in heaven and on earth. And we do the same for others, we seek to bless as much as we can.
Love is humble, and sacrificial. Jesus loved us so much that He died for us. He said, “No man has greater love than this, that he lay down his life for a friend.” This may mean giving up what you want to do so that your brother or sister can do something. It means giving up your own desires for the desires of others.
Love is wise, and the Spirit guides us in how we love. In overflowing with love and desiring to bless we don’t give unwisely. Example: Your brother wants to play with something that you know he shouldn’t play with and isn’t allowed to play with. Love in this case stops him from playing with it, instead of allowing him to continue. So blessing others does not always mean giving them opportunity to do what they want to do. It means always giving them what they need. And this takes wisdom.
Love is an attitude that is the foundation to whatever you do. Jesus also says that the world will know that we are His disciples, by how we love one another. This is also the first and second greatest commandment: Love God, love neighbor. We are commanded to love. And this is why we are given the Spirit. He plants the seeds and waters and gives sunshine, and prunes, and brings fruit. He paints a picture, and hangs it on our walls. He displays love on us.
Why should we? Why should we love others? Well if the fact that we have been commanded to by the God of all Creation is not enough, it should also be a response of Gratitude. We have been loved in this way, fully and completely with our betterment and blessing as the goal. This is how we honor God as God, and how we give Him thanks. We acknowledge that God has done this, and we in return act likewise to others.
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8:33 PM
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