This past week I was having a conversation with
someone and she told of a very insightful moment in
her life: She was a school teacher, and she was just
trying her best to be both a good teacher and a good
Christian, not just by her words but by her example.
At some point, in a conversation with a student, the
student was surprised to hear that the teacher was a
Christian... NOT because she had been mean and
failed to live out what we think should be the
qualities of a Christian life, but the very OPPOSITE...
the student said, “I didn’t think you were a Christian
because you are NICE!”
WOW!!! OUCH!!!! What an indictment against
Christians today when the reputation we have in the
eyes of the world is that we are NOT NICE..., maybe
judgmental, or harsh, unkind, mean
Some of you may recall a time in your past when
something happened at a church... someone wasn’t
NICE... and you got hurt. Maybe you thought, I’m
never going to go back to church again!
Unfortunately that happens so much that we’ve
coined a term for it: Church Hurt!
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I wish I could tell you that never happens here at
SpiritLife. But I can’t. What I can tell you is it
shouldn’t happen.
What I can tell you is that if SpiritLife is more than
our name... if it is how we live our lives... in the power
of the Holy Spirit... a Spirit filled, Spirit anointed,
Spirited empowered life – then demonstrating the
character of Christ will be the rule and not the
exception. Because Character Counts!
Last Sunday we introduced a new message series
“Character Counts.” In this series we want to talk
about developing our character by the fruit of the
Spirit.
Gal 5:22-23 NKJV 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such
there is no law.
We said some things like:
1. Talent will get you there. But Character will
Keep you there.
2. We cannot create fruit on our own. It is the
product of the Holy Spirit within us.
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3. The focus is on Christian character. Building
Christian character must take precedence over
displaying the Spiritual Gifts.
Today, I want to focus on the first character trait
listed in the Fruit of the Spirit – Love, which tells us
how to respond to people
1.Love: How to Respond to People
OK, Let’s be honest. It would be a lot easier to love
People if everyone would just be nice!
But everyone isn’t nice... or at least not all the time.
And God didn’t just expect us to love nice people.
He even expects us to love mean people – cruel
people – hurtful people!
People we disagree with;
people who have different values than we have.
People who put up posts on Social Media that we
find offensive that ruffle our feathers.
How many of you remember that Jesus told us we are
even supposed to love our enemies?
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That sounds impossible doesn’t it? And, in our
strength, in our fleshly nature, IT IS!!!
But here’s the good news. God doesn’t expect you to
love people, even when they aren’t nice, or even your
enemies, in your own strength or ability. Instead,
He has given us the supernatural help of the Holy
Spirit, who is at work in us to change our character
into His Character – and His character is Love.
The Bible tells us that God is love! Not just that
He loves, but that He IS LOVE.
[1John 4:16 NLT] 16 We know how much God loves us,
and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and
all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
Look at that. God Loves us.
God is Love.
God lives in us!
When God asks/expects us to demonstrate love
towards people, He is only asking us to let HIS nature
operate in our lives. He is telling us to “step aside”
and let Him “take over”.
Here’s the good news. God, through the Holy Spirit,
is not just with us, but IN US, HELPING US (Paraklete)
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to put on the new man created in Christ Jesus – to put
on the nature and character of God... to be loving and
kind.
God doesn’t just tell us what to do...
He helps us to do it!
Peter breaks this down for us...
[2Pe 1:3-8 NLT] 3 By his divine power, God has given us
everything we need for living a godly life. (God’s part) We have
received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us
to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. 4 And
because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and
precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to
share his divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused
by human desires. 5 In view of all this, make every effort to
respond to God's promises. (our part) Supplement your faith
with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral
excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control,
and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance
with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and
brotherly affection with love for everyone. 8 The more you grow
like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Isn’t it amazing how this list of Christian character
lines up so closesly with the the Fruit of the Spirit in
Galatians 5...
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Here is another parallel Scripture to the Fruit of the
Spirit listed in Galatians 5. It is found in Colossians
Chapter 3, starting at verse 12:
[Col 3:12-14 NLT] 12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he
loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy,
kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. (sound familiar?) 13
Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who
offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must
forgive others. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which
binds us all together in perfect harmony.
Above all...LOVE!
Above your feelings.... LOVE!
Above what someone did to you... LOVE!
Above our desire to get even.... LOVE!
Above all the excuses to do anything else... LOVE!
In the famous “love chapter” 1 Corinthians 13 helps us
understand what love is and what it looks like in daily
life. When Paul wrote this chapter, he was not
thinking about weddings or romance. Chapter 13
comes right in the middle of a lengthy discussion on
the use of spiritual gifts in chapters 12 and 14. As if to
say, all these spiritual gifts are important, but they
MUST operate in an atmosphere of LOVE!
When the writers of the New Testament looked out on
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the world of their day they saw people who talked
about love but seemed to know little or nothing about
the sort of love that the Holy Spirit was revealing to
them. The Greek words in general use were not
adequate:
one had too many sexual connotations,
another meant merely natural affection,
and the third meant brotherly love.
So when they wanted to write about love they needed
a new word for a new idea. The love that the New
Testament writers had in mind was supernatural love,
or agape love.
It’s a selfless and unconditional commitment to
imperfect people.
Agape is a love for the utterly unworthy,
a love which proceeds from a God who is love.
It’s a love lavished upon others without a
thought of whether they are worthy to receive it
or not.
It proceeds from the nature of the lover, rather
than from any merit in the beloved.
That’s the word that is used throughout 1
Corinthians 13.
Here’s a simple outline:
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• The Preeminence of Love (verses 1-3)
• The Practice of Love (verses 4-7)
The Preeminence of Love
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love,
I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift
of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and
if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am
nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body
to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
Whatever I do and say is useless without love.
1. In verse 1, Paul is saying that even if he could
master several languages and be able to speak the
heavenly language of angels (speak in tongues),
but he didn’t have love, then he would be nothing
more than a clanging cymbal.
2. In verse 2, Paul says that love is more
important than
prophecy (gift of prophecy)
knowledge (word of knowledge). Even if we
know everything about nuclear science,
medicine, philosophy, psychology and theology
– even if we think we are smarter than the
next person - but still do not have love, we
are nothing.
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He next states in verse 3 that love is even more
important than generosity and sacrifice: “If I give
all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to
the flames, but have not love, I am nothing.”
Paul is saying, “Above all, Love!”
He’s saying, “I don’t care about any of your
credentials, your degrees, your money, or how long
you’ve been a member of the church. What I want to
know about is how well you love people!
And again, not how well you love the people that are
like you, who have gone to church with you for the
past umpteen years... but how well do you love the
person who isn’t like you – who rubs you the wrong
way – who is a burr under your saddle. That’s where
the rubber meets the road.
Love must be Preeminent! It is Essential!
The Practice of Love
It’s not enough to just acknowledge that love is
essential; we’re called to exhibit agape love in our
lives.
In John 13:34, Jesus challenges us, “A new command I
give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so
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you must love one another.” This is not a suggestion;
it’s a command.
How did Jesus love you? He loved you so much that
even when you were a sinner He died for you!
We tend to think that love is something that just
happens to us. We fall in love like we fall into a ditch,
or we fall out of love like we fall out of a tree. The
Bible teaches us that love is a choice. It must affect
the way we live. It’s the fruit of the Spirit-filled life.
Let me read verses 4-7:
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast,
it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily
angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in
evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts,
always hopes, always perseveres.”
Let’s look at these descriptions a little more closely.
• Love is patient. This word basically means
“someone who is able to avenge himself yet refrains
from doing so.” It carries with it the idea of
perseverance.
• Love is kind. The meaning here is to “show oneself
useful.” Love volunteers to help others when they’re
in need. If you truly love someone you will be kind to
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him or her. Kind. That’s a word that we need to
rediscover!
• Love does not envy. Instead of wishing I had what
you have, love helps me to celebrate what God has
given you without being jealous of it for myself.
• Love does not boast. This word literally means a
“braggart” and is used nowhere else in the Bible. The
fruit of love does not brag about what I have or what
I’ve done.
• Love is not proud. The word here means to “blow
or to puff.” Pride has no place in a believer’s life
because everything we have is by grace.
• Love is not rude. The Greek word means that love
does not “behave in an ugly, indecent or obscene
manner.” Love acts in a worthy way.
• Love is not self-seeking. This is the polar opposite
of agape love. True love does not seek to build up self
but rather puts others first.
• Love is not easily angered. A person who is living
under the influence of love is not “prone” to violent
anger or exasperation.
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• Love keeps no record of wrongs. This is an
accounting term meaning that we must not add up
and itemize the failures of others. Love does not keep
lists of wrongs done to it. Instead of being so tough on
people who sin differently than we do, let’s learn to
give grace by cutting others some slack.
• Love does not delight in evil. We should not enjoy
hearing about other people’s sins or focus on the bad
stuff that happens in our world.
• Love rejoices with the truth. The word “truth”
here is the opposite of “evil.” Instead of locking into
the vices of others, love celebrates and applauds the
virtues of those around us.
• Love always protects. The image here is of a
blanket that covers, or hides things. I love the OT
story of Noah – not the ark part – but afterward, one
night when he lay drunk and naked. One son saw
him; came and told (exposed) it to the other
brothers. Those two, in an act of love, walked
backward with a blanket and covered their father. 1
Peter 4:8 challenges us to “Love each other deeply,
because love covers over a multitude of sins.” When I
am quick to notice a fault and tell others about it, I
am not practicing love.
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• Love always trusts. The idea here is that we don’t
lose faith in others even if they’ve messed up or hurt
us. We delight in giving people second and third
chances.
• Love always hopes. To hope means “to expect with
desire.” No matter how dark things are or how bleak
things look; love maintains an attitude of hope that
they can get better. It’s a refusal to take failure as
final.
• Love always perseveres. This literally means, “to
remain under.” Love hangs in there with others in
long-term relationships. We’re going to spend eternity
with each other so we might as well get along now.
CONCLUSION: I want to help you...
Here are some application steps that will help us
learn how to love:
1.Love those who are close to us. Someone has
said, “To love the whole world for me is no
chore; the only real problem’s my neighbor next
door.” We are commanded to love no matter
how inconsiderate our spouse is; no matter how
unreasonable our parents are; no matter how
disrespectful our children are; and no matter
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how selfish our friends are.
2. Love those who are different from us. What
is our attitude towards people who have
different colored skin than we do, or live in a
different neighborhood, have a different
lifestyle, or listen to different music? While we
don’t have to be best friends with everyone, we
do need to strive to love everyone, even if they
are different from us.
3. Love those who disagree with us. Have you
ever noticed how difficult it is to love someone
who we think is wrong? Remember this.
Christians with whom we disagree are never our
enemies. They are still family members.
This coming week, you are going to be challenged
by people who are close to you (family, church,
friends)... LOVE THEM!
You are going to be challenged by people different
than you... LOVE THEM.
You are going to be challenged by people who
disagree with you... LOVE THEM.
Not through your own strength or ability... but through
the supernatural ability of the Holy Spirit in you!
