9th Fruit of the Holy Spirit
1 John 4:7-10 Dear Friends, Let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and Only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loves us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
The Fruit of Love is what God is – not what He feels, but rather it is the substance and personage of all that He is.
Paul advises us that no amount of sacrifice we make or gifting that we display means anything if we have not love in 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13. His description of love is not a description of an emotion, or quality or a feeling. 1 Cor. 13:4-7 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 records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Although Paul says love is, and calls it an “it”—you can take it one step up and call love…”He is” for God is love. God is patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast and is not proud. He is not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered, keeps no records of wrongs. God does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. He always protects and always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres. The proof of this in scripture is:
1. God is patient – 1 Peter 3:20 …when God waited patiently in the days of Noah for the ark to be completed,…. and He waited centuries for Israel, sending to them judges and prophets, delivering them from their trials as they repented—again and again. Even when He brought them back from Babylon, He still had to wait years for the temple to be completed. In fact Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 1:16 ....I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life.
2 Peter 3:15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation. When you come to know God, and realise that God is patient—that is when you understand what Peter meant in 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.
The patience of God is displayed best in His slowness to anger—which is what He showed Moses in Exodus 34:6 “ …the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness….” The slowness to anger of God, gives us the time to repent, so that His wrath may not have to be unleashed.
Once you understand that God is patient, than anything that displays impatience is not God. In fact, anything that pushes you to hurry, in order to extract vengeance, revenge or punishment upon anyone—anyone who is quick to judge and condemn—has not learned the patience of God. Jesus displayed this patience when the woman caught in adultery was brought to Him, and all He did was ask whoever was without sin to cast the first stone and began to write in the sand, waiting until all had left before He released the woman. You see, when God wants to deal with you, He waits until everyone has had their say, and has gone—and when He is alone with you, He will tell you what He really thinks of you. Now that is patience—waiting to have the last word!
The patience of God also allows Him to maximise His glory and your blessing—so be prepared, as in the case of John 11— Lazarus had to experience illness, death and burial before being raised because Jesus did not move until he had died. That is why, patient endurance is called for from the Saints; not because God is slow—but because God wants to have the last word that annihilates everything else ever said or done before.
When you learn to be patient, you have begun to learn love from God’ aspect—His love is not the breathless, hurried, can’t wait to get started, lusty, short-lived type—but the patient type that waits for the best result—the irrevocable and the irrefutable result. Patience is the best weapon against the enemy, because Revelations 12:12 (double ease) “….He (the devil) is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” The Devil cannot afford to sit and wait—but God can, and you can if you believe Jesus who said, “Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in Me will never die.” John 11:25
Get the three score and ten mentality out of your head which the world survives on—and that it is all over if you die—No, death is only a short intermission, and whatever you are planning to do for God or experience—you will do it all—you have eternity to experience everything you want to experience and know—so wait for your plans to be fulfilled later. Use the now for what it is given for; and that is: - “that they may know You, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.” John 17:3
When God is ready to act, He will act and suddenly it is there. Malachi 3:1 “See, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to His temple; the Messenger of the covenant whom you desire will come.”
Acts 2:2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
The patience of God—the love of God which is patient draws its strength from His persona—His True Form—He is the Good Father. So God’s patience is the patience of the good Father, waiting for His sons to grow up to take their place beside Him; even as He delights himself in watching them grow and helping them grow; moulding them, shaping them, and also giving them enough freedom to make their own mistakes. Except in Jesus, He has the one Son who listens to all He commands, and does all He says. Wow what a delight Jesus is!
2. God is Kind: The kindness of God has already been covered in the Fruit of Kindness.
3. God does not envy: An envious person looks at what does not belong to him and covets what he does not have. Jesus did not come to take back what did not belong to God in the first place—for all things belong to God and are made by God. However, His lack of envy is demonstrated in their inter-personal relationship with each other—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They do not compare with each other—in fact, they so defer to each other that it is difficult to see which one—the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit is responsible for doing the miracle or the speech or the creating. They do not compare one to another.
The jealousness of God where God decrees, “I am a jealous God” Exodus 20:5; 34:14, has no envy. His jealousy is the jealousy of One who is protective of all that belongs to Him. And His jealousy is based on that of the Father—jealous for the well-being of His children. If there were other gods equal to God, He would not be jealous for what they have or possess; except that God Himself says: “To whom will you compare Me? Or who is My equal?” Isaiah 40:25 “You are my witnesses. Is there any god besides Me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.” Isaiah 44:8 Since no one is His equal, there is no one for Him to envy.
One thing you can learn—there is no one your equal because you are unique; and therefore in that uniqueness, there is no one to compare with and no one to envy.
4. God does not boast: If God were to boast, it would be meaningless for there is no one to compare Himself with, and since all things belong to Him and all things were made by Him, through Him and have their being in Him—what does it benefit God to boast? Nothing at all! So God merely states the truth. And since He is creator of all things that are seen and unseen, whether spiritual or material, he defined the perimeter of their existence. As such, boasting by God comes to nothing. However, what God waits for is people who appreciate His genius, and it is His humility that God does show so well—as it is written in Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.
In not one scripture does it say God boasts, but Jesus Himself tells us that…”I am gentle and humble in heart.” Matthew 11:29 If God who made all things does not boast, what is there for us who made nothing, but are given the privilege to come to know the Maker and appreciate His brilliance? What is there for us to boast about? Nothing—except the Lord and what we know of Him.
Jeremiah 9:24 “Let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows Me…”; and the closest thing you will hear from God about boasting which is not boasting, but a statement of truth from a proud, loving Father is the verse from the Mount of Transfiguration: “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.” Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35
5. And neither is He proud, but humble: The humility of God and His love lies in the fact that he remains invisible to all except those who seek Him and even then, you have to seek Him earnestly before you find Him.
Jeremiah 29:13 “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.”
God’s lack of pride is shown in His desire to be praised and worshipped by those who would worship in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.. John 4:23
Isaiah 29:13 “These people come near Me with their mouth and honour Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.” Proud people only seek the worship of mouths or rather they do not care who worships them or praises them—in fact, they would like people to idolize them – that is to worship them without knowing them.
6. God is not rude: This is perhaps the point I find missed by Christians more than any other. The politeness of God is that He waits (and just as well that He is patient). He waits patiently to be asked….without obtruding into your life. Jesus asks for a drink in John 4:7 from the Samaritan woman, and even though He knows she is not married and in fact has had 5 lovers, He still says, ”Go, call your husband and come back.” 4:16
He asks the sick: John 5:6 “Do you want to get well?” He asks the demons in Mark 5:9 “What is your name?” These are the hallmarks of a polite person.
7. God is not self-seeking: If God was self-seeking, then He would not have given the glory to Jesus and Jesus, who is God, would not have given the glory to us in 1 John 17:20-23 If God were self-seeking, He would not have released the Holy Spirit to us as the Spirit of Sonship, making us co-heirs with Christ Romans 8:17. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory. The word “co-heirs” means an equal share. God is seeking glory to share with Jesus, the Holy Spirit brings glory to God to share with Jesus and then they share it with us. Jesus knows the Father—and the reason He came was to make known to us the Father—that is, allowing us to share in His knowledge and relationship with the Father. It is like an only Son asking the Father to adopt other children, so that the Son could share the Father with others.
If God was self-seeking, He could have abandoned us and started all over again, and no one would be any the wiser. A Father that is self-seeking goes forth to make his own life and glory, with little fore-thought for the children. A father like God, has already planned the inheritance for his children before he starts his work and all that he does, and has the well-being of all his family at heart—to the highest degree, except not everyone can see it.
Jesus died to save all because the indecision of all gives God the greatest glory—that is why there are no “holy exclusives” as far as salvation is concerned. Every blade of grass is saved. How much more every living soul? However, whether every soul will develop into the fullness of Sonship—now that is your choice. Because God is the Good Father who is not self-seeking, none of us, His children are ever left to our own devices. And not only that—the greatest proof that God is not self-seeking is in the verse of John 15:7 “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish [will] and it will be given [done for] you.” Anyone who is almighty as God is and who still caters to another lesser person’s wish and will is not self-seeking.
8. God is not easily angered: “He is slow to anger and abounding in love”. Joel 2:13
9. God keeps no record of wrongs: Isaiah 43:25 “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” The sacrifice of Jesus that blots out all of our sins is what allows the new creation to be brought forth—If not, then we are just a redeemed old creation—a sinner forgiven—not a son, born again! We are not just forgiven, but born again in the Spirit. That is why Jesus said we must be born again—to be a new creature so that when God looks at us, there is no record of wrong doing—and since we who follow and listen to Jesus, practising His word—are all practising righteousness—there is no sin anymore, only continuous repentance as we perfect our practice of righteousness.
10. God does not rejoice in evil but delights in the truth: If God did delight in evil, He would have taken pleasure in the death of the wicked. Psalm 5:4 You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil. With you the wicked cannot dwell. Ezekiel 18:23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? In fact in the OKJ it says: “God repented of the evil He intended.” Jeremiah 18:8 KJV
11. God is the Father who always protects: Matthew 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.” And the prayer of Jesus was in John 17:11 “Holy Father, protect them by the power of Your Name—the Name You gave Me.” The protection of God is that of the good Father for His children—and as such, He is ever present with all His power at His disposal to protect those that belong to Him if only we believe it and even when we don’t believe it. Judgement Day will reveal to us how much God really has done to protect us—known to us and unknown to us. He protected Jesus as a baby and Jesus protected all the disciples.
12. God always trusts, always hopes: The love of God that trusts is that He trusts His own Son and He trusts Himself…He knows He is faithful to His own word and His Word is faithful. It is in that trust that He is able to love…love even rebels, and entrust to us who were formally His enemies, the Kingdom—even the keys. Matthew 16:19 “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” When a person trusts you, He gives you the keys to his house—yes, even His kingdom. The fact that God gives us the keys and the secrets of the knowledge of the Kingdom of Heaven in His parables shows His trust—and since his gifts are without repentance—God in fact is saying, “I always trust you.”
13. God always perseveres: - Never gives up in hope -Hoping that we would repent and turn around. That is why He does not quickly kill off the wicked, but lets them live in the hope they will repent. God’s hope is demonstrated in His patience and persistence, continuing to manifest His signs and wonders, which is also His perseverance. Matthew 5:45 “He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous...” God sustains the evil and the good, the righteous and the unrighteous in the hope that the evil would repent, and He leaves the good and righteous in their midst that they may have an example, like a light that would guide them out of the darkness. That is why Jesus is the Light of the World, but He also said in Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world.” It is the only “I am” of Jesus that Jesus said we also are – Why? That we might be examples to the evil and unrighteous, which is the hope of God that they repent—and He will persevere in this right up to Judgement Day, which is why He says in Zephaniah 3:9, “Then will I purify the lips of the peoples that all of them may call on the Name of the Lord.”
The fruit of God’s love is the manifold wisdom of God in all its different facets—and its complexity comes from this truth—God is the only Good Father with the personality and heart, not only of a Father, but the attachment of a Mother—God is not like a father who causes a mother to conceive and then does nothing more—But God has a mother’s love as well, for although we were made through Him, we also have our being in Him—that’s right.—in Him, like a baby in a mother’s womb. That is why God said to Israel – “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” Isaiah 49:15
The love of God is the combined love of Father and Mother for an only Son – not just Father! – And that is why as earthly fathers, we have much to learn.
The love of God is displayed as the perseverance of a parent who will not give up their child and will do everything possible to be with them—at all times—no matter how ignored or mal-treated they are, and since Jesus could not be with us all at the same time, He sent the Holy Spirit who has persevered with us for 2000 years.
To know the Love of God that Paul speaks of and prays for us in Philippians 1:9-11 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.
Ephesians 3:17-19—And I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
This love is the Love of the Creator God which is both Father and Mother – and without this love, there is no power!
AMEN HOLY SPIRIT – THE FRUIT OF LOVE!
