A few weeks ago we had a discussion in our Wednesday night small group about the human nature. The Bible says every person is born with a sinful nature. Mankind is not righteous by nature, even though some people might be super sweet and loving. Sorry...
(Love, that's what this blog post is all about)
Quite simply said, sin came into the world through Adam and Eve and righteousness came into the world through Jesus. Romans 5:19 says it like this: For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
That is, in short, the good news. Guilt and shame can be replaced with freedom! In the previous blog post we have seen what human nature produces... a lot of bad stuff. However, what the Holy Spirit wants to bring forth is very beautiful: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
The first sign that the Holy Spirit lives in us, is that He will start to produce godly fruit (character) in our life, so we begin to look more and more like Jesus. That fruit is Gods character and thus not to be confused with human behavior or virtues (which can be learned and adapted). Let's take a look at love, which is mentioned first.
Love. What comes to mind when we think about love? Being nice to one another, tolerance, being in love, parental love...? We are often inclined to think about human love here (as in relationships, humanism, charity or eros), but Galatians 5:22 talks about supernatural love. That is not a feeling or a thought, that is a decision. That is the most beautiful and most difficult love that exists, that is:
- loving your enemies
- loving those that persecute you
- loving until death
It is therefore not a fruit we can produce by trying hard, by doing all that we can. It is a fruit that will grow when we give the Holy Spirit room to change our heart.
Go ahead, ask God: Lord, teach me to love the ones that are unlovable, the ones I struggle with. That prayer will change your life!
Indeed Marja, especially in a world of hatred and violence it must be SO hard for many to LOVE their enemy. Not something we mere humans can do on our own strength. We NEED the Holy Spirit to inspire and strengthen us to be able to create and hold onto that special LOVE - We need to seek the Holy Spirit, invite the spirit into our lives and bring about change of heart.
ReplyDeleteAmen Anita, we can not do this in our own strength, it will wear us out.
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