Posts Tagged ‘love’

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. … Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another, No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.        1 John 4:7-8, 11-12 (ESV)

Love is the evidence of whether or not God is abiding in us and we are abiding in Him. In 1 John we are encouraged to love (let us love one another), we are exhorted to love (we also ought to love one another), and we are informed of the source of that love (if we love, God abides in us). Later, in verse 19, John reminds us that “We love because He first loved us.” Paul exhorts us to “speak the truth in love” in Ephesians. We cannot speak the truth without the Truth dwelling in us; we cannot do anything in love without the God Who is Love abiding in us. Beloved, don’t hide your abiding love but let your light shine and demonstrate the true evidence of life in Christ as His love is perfected in us.

I know that the chapter and verse designations in Scripture aren’t part of the original documents, but … I couldn’t help but notice the similarity in message between John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

Christ set the example and lived the life of love without faltering. When we have that same love, “we know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers.” (1 John 3:14a)

Observations from Tony; Scripture quotes from ESV.

We can learn a lot about a person by how they receive rebuke, correction, and instruction.  People are more likely to continue working with others that receive in a wise manner and both the giver and receiver will gain from that continued interaction. Proverbs 9:7-9 says:

Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. (NIV)

Maybe learning and wisdom are more self-selective than we may first think.

In the midst of an exhortation to offer our bodies as living sacrifices to God, Paul reminds us that we can only do that in accordance with the measure of faith God has given us (Romans 12). Peter, in his second epistle, expounds on how we are to take that God-given faith as a base and add to it goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love; we are to “possess these qualities in increasing measure.”  If we are moving in that direction we will be kept “from being ineffective and unproductive” in our true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul, in his first letter to Timothy, tells the young pastor to train himself to be godly because “godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” He adds that “godliness with contentment is great gain,” and to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith …” And “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,” writes “to those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ;” and he urges us to “contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.” James has much to say regarding faith and deeds. While it is obvious that our salvation comes purely as a gift from God, it appears that our God-given faith becomes a foundational platform to be built upon.

Before we start thinking that we can bring this about in our own strength, we should turn to the Old Testament. Solomon, in Psalm 127, proclaims, “Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.” Proverbs 3 sort of ties this rambling meditation together. Verse 3 says to “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.” Verse 4 speaks of the effectiveness and fruitfulness of the faith life; “Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.” And the familiar verses (5-6) remind us where to go in order to build on the God-given faith. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Galatians 5:22-23 contains a list of attributes of the fruit of the Spirit, but what kind of plant can produce “Spirit Fruit”? God’s Word is full of information regarding fruit and plants and seed.

Beginning in the first chapter of the Bible, Genesis 1:11-12, “God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”

You will continue to run across the theme of fruit and seed all the way though Scripture until you get to the last chapter in the Bible, Revelation 22:1-2, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life. It was as clear as crystal. It flowed from the throne of God and of the Lamb. It flowed down the middle of the city’s main street. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing 12 crops of fruit. Its fruit was ripe every month. The leaves of the tree bring healing to the nations.”

In the midst of a teaching about trees and fruit in Matthew 7:18, we are told, “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.” The principle of each plant bearing seed or fruit after its own kind doesn’t change from Old Testament to New Testament. A plant can only bear the fruit that it is designed to bear.

So let’s go back to Galatians 5:22- 23 and look at what kind of plant can produce “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” That Spirit Fruit only comes by being in the Spirit. Galatians 5 informs us that a conflict is being waged between the flesh and its desires and the Spirit. Verse 24 tells us, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.”

Let us walk in the Spirit and produce Spirit Fruit.

Quotes in this post from (NIV).

When Jesus was asked (as recorded in Mark 12) “Which commandment is the most important of all?” He responded with a quote from Deuteronomy and then added a quote from Leviticus. We were all reminded to love and revere God above all else and to love our neighbor as ourselves. 

In the Deuteronomy quote Jesus is being obedient to Scripture even as he quotes the Scripture. Moses wrote in Dt. 6:6-7 (ESV) “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Jesus was doing just that; He was speaking from the overflow of His own heart and proclaiming the message of Truth to the generations.

In the Leviticus passage (chapter 19) the ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ exhortation comes in the midst of some practical words about how to demonstrate love for our neighbor. 

• Leave the corners of your fields for the poor and the sojourner to glean.
• Don’t steal, oppress, rob, lie to, withhold wages, do injustice, etc.
• Don’t be partial to the poor or defer to the great.

Basically, “do the right thing” with everyone around you and consider how your actions affect others.