Monday

Love, Joy, and Peace; The Greatest is Love

I saw a birthday card today that had the following three keywords on it; Joy, Peace, and Love. It was not meant to be a religious card, but those words reminded me of what eternally is at the heart of what true Christianity is all about. The gift of God to us is Jesus, God our savior.

The Gift


I know I will not be doing these words the ultimate justice they deserve, especially from a biblical text standpoint, but with the help of God, hopefully it will put things in the proper context.

We have all heard the words, or the various quoted biblical texts about the fruit of the Spirit. The quoted texts below have been used by many folks both in the Christian and secular worlds, and even those words have been used in many songs throughout the ages. I have to say though, the words have lost their true meaning, because we as a world, fail to realize of "who" the words are actually talking about.

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

1 Peter 4:8

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Colossians 3:14

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

1 Corinthians 13:13

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 John 4:8

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

1 John 4:7

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

Romans 13:10

Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Bible quotes from English Standard Version

What I really want to point out here, is each and everyone of these attributes are of God, or should I say is how God displays himself to us through Jesus Christ.

Some folks might be thinking that you are able to outwardly perform one or two of those attributes described above sometimes, and even you might say to yourself you can do some of them most of the time, but inwardly they can not be attained not even close to 100% of the time, nor can you display those fruits to all people all the time.

What is Love? This is the question that has been asked down through the ages. Until we understand what God's love has been, and is for us, we can not love the way God loves us.

Love is forgiveness; not as the world forgives, but as God has forgiven us. Before we ever asked for forgiveness, God forgave us all (the whole world) of all our sins. Yes, read that a second time, God forgave you of all your sins before you ever asked for forgiveness. He forgave you of all your sins before you even committed them. He forgave you of all your sins before you were even born. God in Christ Jesus, sacrificed himself for all of us on the cross. God is not upset with you. Love is Jesus and Jesus is love.

Once we understand true forgiveness from God's perspective, then we can start to forgive others as God has forgiven us.

Joy in my heart, because he has done it all for me. There is nothing more I need to do to have God love me. I am forgiven for all time. I am loved for all time. Nothing separates me from his love.

Peace that passes all understanding. Jesus gives us the peace that passes all understanding. His peace is the greatest, because in spite of our circumstances, in spite of what we do, in spite of what others do to us; he will never leave us or forsake us, and totally loves us.

Philippians 4:7

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Now is the time to receive his forgiveness, receive his love, receive his joy, receive his peace, and receive his life giving Holy Spirit today.


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