Bible Studies
"LOVE never fails"
I was doing a study the other day on the 9 fruits of the Spirit,and to my surprise I found all nine abiding in the word we call Love. Of course we know that Love is from God,and that God Is Love . But really what is our understanding of Love from a Christian perspective. When we look at what the Merriam Webster dictionary defines Love as; a strong affection or devotion or admiration. How can we apply that word to our God; and to our spouse, children, neighbors,and the lost that we come in contact with on a daily basis?Love to me has not always been easy growning up and learning to trust when one has been abused or set a side does not come naturally. How ever God has Blessed me with a Loving and caring sensitive Godly husband who explifies the love of Jesus Christ to me on a daily basis by His Grace.
Love how ever is an all encompassing and warm and gentle when it is found in Jesus Christ. God is Love and all True Love comes from Him.
Like a child held in their Mother’s Arms so is the peace and safety that comes from abiding in a All Wise Loving God.
The Apostle Paul gave us a strong reference to what Love is :He said that Love is patient, Love is kind, Love does not envy, does not boast or is not proud,is not rude,is not self seeking,is not easily angered,keeps no record of wrongs.Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in with the Truth.Love protects,trusts,always hopes,always preserves,Love never fails.
Yes,True Love has all the character traits of what we call the 9 fruits of the Spirit.
The Apostle Paul stated that to a Christian there will be an ever increasing growth of Spiritual fruit in a follower of Jesus Christ as they abide in His Presence; through mediation in God’s Word,and in thought and prayer.
Jesus said if You abide in me You will bear much fruit. John 15:5. and He said that it would be for His Glory. When the Body of Christ is Abiding in Christ, the Church will bear fruit for the Glory of God, and be a strong witness to the lost in the world.
God could use signs and wonders to open the eyes of the lost ;Yes,but that is the exception not the rule today. He performed miracles when He walked on the earth to verify that He indeed is the Son Of God,and the apostles preformed miracles to verify that they were the followers of The One they called The Messiah,and to authenticate the Bible as it was being written.But today in the year of 2007 I believe that God is making a strong witness to a disbelieving world that Jesus Spirit lives in the ones that are called by His Name;Christian. and that name explifies and holds to the honor of bearing the nine fruits of the Spirit in one's life.
We can not experience the fruit grow in our lives apart from having Faith in Jesus Christ. So as we abide in Him and worship Him with all our heart, mind ,and soul,and strength, we will witness, the character, conduct,and conversation in our lives that will be pleasing to Him.
As I said I found that all the nine fruits are found in the Word Love mentioned in the book of Corinthians Chapter 13;go a head and have a good look and see if you see all the nine fruits there. Love,Joy, Peace, Long suffering,Gentleness,Goodness, Faith,Meekness, Temperance, (KJV).Gal 5:22
Well we know that Love is the first fruit mentioned,and we know that Love is From God and that God is Love, so therefore to experience the 2nd fruit mentioned in the Bible we must have a close walk with our Lord to experience His Joy in our lives. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines joy as an emotion of well being,delight,a state of happiness.Yes, true joy comes from the Joy Giver and that is our Lord, we can experience His Joy in the midst of our trials and sufferings as we trust in His Love and care for us; even in the depth of suffering in sickness and loss; a follower of Christ can experince the supernatural joy of Jesus knowing that He is in Sovereign control over every area of our lives. There is a song that I like to sing and the words are to many of you probably very familiar”Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus ,look full into His Wondourous Face,and the things of this world grow strangley dim, in the Light of His Glory and Grace.” That is what it is like to have joy, knowing that Jesus is first in our lives,and that others are there waiting to receive Jesus Love from us,and that knowing that they come first before our needs.Joy is a ancronome I have come to know as J=Jesus, +O=others+Y=You. As we experience joy we can also experience God’s peace.Peace is the 3rd fruit of the Spirit mentioned in the book of Galations.
The dictionary defines peace as a state of tranquility or quite,freedom from oppressive thoughts or emotions. As we abide in our lord we can experience His Peace in the midst of our trials. I once saw a painting of a man holding an umbrella while a big gush of wind was all around him and every thing around him looked like it was being hit by a tornado, and he stood there with a look of peace on his face.Some times in our lives there is chaos and instability and the unknown, and as we walk and abide with our Lord He gives us supernatural peace. Isaiah; said that , He who’s mind is stayed on Thee will rest in Perfect Peace because He Trusts in Thee. (Isaiah 26:3).Yes, we can experince God’s Peace in the midst of the storms and trails that come to us in this life knowing that God is in perfect control in every area of our lives.As we abide in His peace then the 4th fruit which is called patience can be manifested in our character. Patience does not come easily to me and I know that it is only the work of the Holy Spirit in my life that helps me to be patient and to wait on God’s Perfect timing to accomplish His will in my Life. The dictionary states that the word patience bears pains and trials calmly with out complaint, is willing to bear or to wait. Yes, God can give us supernatural ability to wait on Him and be patient when we are starting to get anxious about our circumstances or are waiting for an answer to prayer. We all know that waiting in lines at the grocery store requires patience, and waiting for an important phone call or the out come of a medical test and that requires God’s power to wait on Him for the answers that come our way.As we experience the fruit patience the 5th fruit is also manifested in the character of gentleness which is what the dictionary states as mildness of manners, moderate,honorable.We experience the character of Jesus Christ as when He walked on the earth . He came to give his life as a servant and a ransom to all. Jesus laid down His life so that we could receive the gift of eternal life,and we are called to give our lives for the cause of Christ. As we abide in His love we will experience gentleness in our lives towards the family of God and to the lost and that will follow with the 6th fruit of the Spirit which is goodness. The dictionary states that the word goodness refers to the quality or state of being.So as Christians to experience and grow in the goodness of God would reflect the Love and compassion of Jesus Christ to the hurting,lowly, rejected and lonely in this world;which would lead us to the 7th fruit of the Spirit which is found in God. Faith is from God and leads to God. God is said to be the Author and Perfector of our Faith. Faith is also a gift from God. So as we abide in His Love and Word;our Faith and admiration and trust in Him will grow.As we grow in these character traits of our Lord we will experience the 8th fruit which is called meekness, which the dictionary defines as enduring injury with patience with out resentment, not to be violent or strong to be moderate.
When we abide in our Lord's Love and know how forgiven we are for our sins, then are we in a position to extend His Love and forgiveness to others.I do not know about you but another area of fruit to grow in my life is the 9th fruit, temperance the supernatural ability to say no to something in my life that could hurt my health,or well being.Being a Type 1 Diabetic for over 23 yrs now has given me much opportunity to grow in the area of self control or what the KJV states as temperance, the ability to say no when it is best and the abilty to do all things in moderation in my care for my diabetes which includes my diet, my medication and rest and care for my body as I battle with the disease on a daily basis,so I defiantly need the fruit of the Spirit to embrace this life with a failing body that some times can not keep up with the demands of every day living, only by His grace do I have His Love, Joy,Peace,Patience,Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Temperance.
The fruit of the Spirit that is called temperance or what some might call self control. The dictionary defines it as restraint in action or thought of feeling moderation with appetites and passions. Yes, with God’s indwelling Holy Spirit in our lives, we have the power to say no to temptations and the abilty to overcome in the areas of our lives which can lead to sin.God can give us the ability to have moderation in all areas of our lives through abiding in His presence.So you see when we take a look at the defination of Love that is mentioned in the Holy Bible in the book of Corinthians we see that the fruits are represented in the word Love. I have come to understand the true meaning of Love when I look at it with spiritual eyes. Yes,God is still doing that good work in me and I know that His fruit is still yet to grow more in certain areas of my life, but as I abide in Him I’m witnessing more fruit each new day.
Let us take a moment in prayer today and ask God where He wants us to grow,and as we abide in Him,we will witness more fruit grow in our lives for His Glory and for our eternal Good.
Inspired by God
Mr&Mrs David Jobes © Copyright 2004 revised version 2007
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