Weird title huh? We don't really think of fruits in the wintertime. Personally, the wintertime is usually when I am craving those fruits that are only good in the summer (i.e. watermelon, kiwis, plums, etc). However, I am not talking about those fruits. Today's blog post is the first of many to come where I am going to talk about the fruits of the Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit are found in Galatians 5:22: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In Galatians chapter 5, Paul tells us to use our newfound freedom in Christ to walk in the Spirit and not to continue in our sinful, worldly ways of the flesh. The desires of the flesh are working against the Spirit which creates problems for us and those around us. These desires are things of the world; things of this world do not last. This is why we need to walk in the Spirit by striving to model our lives from the fruits of the Spirit. Over the course of many weeks, I will discuss the different fruits and how we can live in the way of that fruit.
This week's fruit we are discussing is strawberries. Chocolate-covered strawberries that is! I am only kidding! With Valentine's Day quickly approaching it seems appropriate that the first fruit is love. Love is mentioned so many times in the bible, (551 times in the NIV to be exact). We say "I love you" to loved ones and significant others. It is a very common word for us to say, but sometimes it is harder to show it. The English language only has one word for love, that is love, and we are left to use the context of the other words around it to determine what kind of love is being portrayed. This one word is used to express so many different emotions. For example, I can say "I love chocolate-covered strawberries" and "I love my boyfriend" and you would understand those are two different kinds of love. The Greeks had four different words for love: eros(AIR-ohs), storge(STOR-jay), philia(FILL-ee-uh), and agape(Uh-GAH-pay). Eros is romantic or sexual love for another person, commonly your spouse. Storge is a familial love; a love between parents and children or brothers and sisters. Philia refers to a brotherly love or a love that bonds believers together. Finally, agape is an unconditional love, a love only God can have for us.
Like I said, love is mentioned in the bible a lot. Some of them refer to a philia love while others refer to agape. Occasionally there are hints at eros and storge but they are not as commonly used. One instance of storge is shown between Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus. Eros can be seen in 1 Corinthians 7:8-9 when Paul writes, "it is better to marry than to burn with passion"(ESV) to the unmarried and widows. Philia and agape are mentioned more often in the bible, but there are three scriptures I am going to focus on for today.
In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul talks about the way of love, that is how we are to love. One of the most used verses at weddings is 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres."(NIV) I have seen posts on Pinterest and similar places that say "strive to replace your name with "love". Yes, strive to do that, but personally, I have tried and it is hard! I get mad easily. I am NOT patient. This verse is often used in weddings as decoration or part of vows which I think is adorable. When Paul wrote this, however, he was talking to a church about the importance of loving each other. In the same chapter, verses 1 and 2 he says if he can do amazing things like speak in tounges or have prophetic powers and have faith the size of a mustard seed that can move mountains, but he doesn't have love, he is nothing. Another verse, 1 John 2:10 says, "whoever loves his brother or sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble."(NIV) Both of these verses show a philia love. It is simple to love those around you who love you, your family, your friends. How do you feel about people who cut you off while you're driving? What about someone who did you wrong? It's not so easy to love them, is it? We are supposed to love everyone! Jesus said, "love your neighbor as yourself."(Matthew 22:39, ESV)
The example of agape that is the most important in the bible is "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."(John 3:16, ESV) I personally don't have any children but I couldn't imagine giving up the thing I love most for someone else let alone someone who was my enemy! The bible says while we were still His enemy, Christ died for us! (Romans 5:8) He loves us that much! God sent His Son to die for us sinners so we would not have to. I can pull out so much scripture that shows how much God loves us. In every place the bible says love that refers to us Christians loving each other, it is always philia, never agape! This is because we are human! We can't love each other the way God loves us. We get mad, we are impatient, we crumble and we do not always love each other the way we should! It's hard to love those who aren't nice to us. It's hard to show love to that person who just honked at you for not moving as soon as the light turned green. The example I hear a lot is a murderer in jail. Can you love someone who has killed another person? Jesus encourages us to love each other. He said, "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." (Matthew 5:44, ESV) Pray for those who are mean to you, who have done wrong to you. Pray that God will give you the ability to love them the way we are supposed to love others.
When something bad happens, stop, breathe, pray! Remind yourself that you love that person. Say a prayer. Pray for patience, pray for that person. Do your best not to jump to anger. If you're able to, pull out your bible and read any of the chapters I mentioned or find your own. Spend some time in the word! Now, I'm not saying you have to physically love everyone all the time, but if you think of someone and only bad thoughts come to your mind, you need to work something out with that person. The greatest thing we can have is love.
This week in creation corner: I started working on a Junk Journal. I so far only have the outside but hopefully, I will be able to get some inside pages in it soon! I also have started a new hobby of writing to pen pals! It is so much fun making new friends through the mail.
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