Ephesians 6:22-23
Sometimes the “labels” that are placed on Christ's followers, really sadden me. Some of it is because our lack of knowledge concerning the work of the Holy Spirit within our lives.
I'm sure that we all know, and probably memorized these verses before us. But repetition is how we learn, so here we go.
The first three, Love, Joy, Peace, are foundational to the rest. They are what empower the other six to have their full work within the believer. Notice the progression - love then joy then peace.
Do you remember when you fell into love the first time? I mean truly, madly, deeply, head-over-heels in love! Remember the joy that person brought at the time? Remember how peaceful it was to be around that person?
Well, the Apostle Paul says in the book of Romans, “That the love of God is shed abroad within our hearts”. I believe the same feelings that we experience when we are first in love, are the same type we need to nurture in our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Truly knowing His love should bring the same type of joy and peace. Even more so. That's where we find that “peace that passes all understanding”. And as we begin to understand it more and more, and experience it more and more, it sets the foundation for the rest of the fruit to grow from.
Theses first three deal with us..
The second three, deal with others and the circumstances that we find ourselves in.
Longsuffering - gentleness - goodness
Have ever noticed how hard it is to be impatient, short-tempered, or unkind with a smile on your face? And I don't mean one of those “paste-on-Sunday-morning” smiles, either. I mean a smile that makes everybody around you wonder what's going on. A smile that is there even when you are going through everything everybody else is, but it's still there. A smile that is there when you deal with the unlovable. Nothing seems to have any affect on it. It just remains .
It's interesting to note here, that, every sermon that is recorded in the book of Acts began with a question. “Why are you guys acting that way?” Or, “What are you guys doing?”
Could it be, that if we began to allow the love of God to radiate from our lives, we might not have to worry about trying to BE a witness. We just would be one. Hmmm, I wonder.
So the first three deal with us. The second three deal with others. And the last three deal with our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
Faith - meekness - temperance
We come to a saving knowledge of our Lord by faith. As we grow we learn meekness. As we learn meekness, it begins to give us the power of self-control. And the more that He grows self-control within us, the more our faith grows. The more faith grows, the more our love grows and the whole process starts over. But it all begins with love.
