the fruit of the spirit is love the seed of love the word of reconciliation. life, light and love....

The Fruit of the Spirit is LoveThe Fruit of the Spirit is Love

• The Seed of Love

The word of reconciliation. Life, light and love. The incorruptible seed.

• The Development of Love

Meditate on love. Practice the Word. Condemn not. Give.

• Fully Matured Love

Live in love. Fear not


• Fruit is the end result of something that began in seed form which was planted in the spirit of man by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the originator and the source of this fruit which springs from within the heart of man. The Spirit of man is the fruit-bearing tree which produces love.

• The Character of Cod

As we have seen, God is love. Those who love are born of God. Love in a person is the sign that he is born again. Those who do not love do not know God and they lie if they say that they are born of God.


• Producing after its Kind

The children of the world carry the nature and characteristics of their father, the devil. They are full of bitter envy and selfish ambition, and live for personal gain and will only do good if there is something in it for them.

• The Nature of God

God denies Himself for the pure good and welfare of the object of His love, which is mankind. God's love has no interest in self - all its interest is devoted outside of self.


• The Many-faceted Fruit

The fruit of the spirit is love with its many facets of joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, meekness, kindness, self-control and faith. This eight faceted fruit is love.

• Love is like a cut Diamond

Every facet of a diamond gives a different hue and colour but it still belongs to the one diamond.


• Love is like a Pomegranate

It is one fruit with many fruits locked up within it.

• Joy rejoices with the truth• Peace is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, it is not• self-seeking• Longsuffering: love is longsuffering with people• Goodness does not delight in evil• Meekness does not envy, is not proud, knows who its source is• Kindness: love is kind, not rude• Self-control is not easily angered, always protects, always

perseveres• Faith always trusts, always hopes • Here we see the many facets of love displayed in a different way.


• It is Interesting

There is nothing boring about the love of God since it has so many faces and characteristics.

• The Seed of Love

The seed of love is the word of love which is the Gospel of the love of God. The Gospel that we preach is the love message of God toward the world.


• The Word of Reconciliation

Here we see that we have both

– the ministry and– the message of reconciliation – What is the message of reconciliation?


• Reconciliation

This comes from a Latin word which means to unite again and so it means to bring back to friendship after estrangement. The Greek word means to change, alter or transform a relationship from bad to good.

• How are we united again?

God and man were separated and divided from one another through SIN and disobedience. This invoked the death sentence upon man. According to God's own declaration man had to die.


• But love ruled

We were God's enemies through sin anddisobedience and we were condemned todeath but love became the substitutesacrifice so that we might haveeverlasting life through a restoredrelationship with God. This is the love message!


• The love ministry

We were born again by the love message of the Word of God. This is the incorruptible seed. Now we must grow to the point where our very life is a living example of that love message. We must come to the point where


• Life, Light and Love

In these Scriptures that we have read we see that God is four things:

– the Word – Light– Life and– Love

"In Him was Life and that Life was the Light of Men"Jesus said: I am the Light of the world. He also said: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.


• The Word is the Light

Whoever loves God, lives in the light. Whoever lives in the word lives in the light. If we hate our brother we are still in darkness and still under the dominion of darkness.

The point is that those who are born of God are born of the incorruptible seed of the Word of love. The genetic characteristic of love is in the new creature in infant form.


• The Incorruptible Seed

– It is incorruptible Seed

No earthly or heavenly element is able to cause it to rot or to deteriorate. It is

– the word– the light– the life– the love of God

• Yesterday, Today and Forever

This is what the incorruptible seed is - we are born of this seed, which is full of the divine characteristics that it speaks of.


• The Development of Love

– 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. (NIV)”


• Love must abound More and More

Love must forever be breaking new boundaries in our lives. It must continually be expanding and enlarging. This is a principle of the Kingdom of God.

• The Kingdom is like YEASTIt works on the law of ever-increasing returns. There must always be growth and expansion - this is the what the Law of Life in Christ declares.

• Scientists tell us that light is still in the process of coming into being in the outer extremities of space. Light has never been told to stop - so the Word which said: let there be light is still in the process of happening.


• Make a quality Decision

We need to make a firm decision to grow and develop in the love of God. This is where the seed of love within us, begins to develop. When we CHOOSE TO GROW, we will. Until you choose to grow, you will not grow.

• Practice makes Perfect

After the choice has been made - practice, then practice some more. But what must I practice?


• Meditate on Love

– Philippians 4:8-9 “Practice in your imaginationFinally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - THINK ABOUT SUCH THINGS. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me - PUT IT INTO PRACTICE. And the God of peace will be with you. (NIV)”

– Meditation is always the first step to practice.

– See yourself walking in the love of God. Remember what the love of God is.


• Practice the Word

The Word of God is summed up in one word - love. This is the summary of all of God's law and commandments.

• Love

This is the love of God in action. There is nothing like doing this to develop the love of God.


• Do Good

If we hate, we walk in darkness and we are children of darkness. We need to love and do good to those who hate us.

• Bless

Curse means to say something BAD about whereas bless means to say something GOOD about.


• Have a positive confession

Your confession must line up with your vision for that person. This vision is shaped by your faith in the power of God. Your words of blessing spoken over the one who curses has creative value and can change them.

• Pray

Prayer on a daily basis for those who mistreat you, isone of the greatest ways of developing the love of God.Prayer will change your attitude like nothing else will.


• Judge Not

God did not send Christ to judge the world, but to save it. We will be tempted to judge - especially enemies who hate and mistreat us


• Condemn Not

This is talking about passing sentence and committing people to destruction. James and John wanted to call down fire from heaven to consume a city that had rejected them. Peter cut off a soldier's ear. Jesus told them that they did not know what kingdom they were of. Forgive literally means to cancel the debts of others. We are called to live a lifestyle of forgiveness.


• Give

Unforgiveniss and tight-fistedness are signs of bondage and marks of the devil. We develop the love walk by practicing these things. We look like God's sons and daughters when we do these things.


• Fully Matured Love

Love does not come instantly with great flashes of lightning and thunderbolts of glory. Nor does it come in the spectacular miraculous signs and wonders. The only way love matures into fruit, is by loving. Practice is the only thing that causes skill and growth. If you don't use it, you will lose it!

• Therefore a Decision is Required

Do not wait for a feeling. Act on a decision that you will practice love.


• Live in Love

– 1 John 4:16-18 “We know and rely on the love that God has for us. God is love WHOEVER LIVES IN LOVE LIVES IN GOD, and God in Him. In this way, LOVE IS MADE COMPLETE AMONG US. (NIV)”.

• Fear not

– Perfect love drives out fear– Fear hinders perfect love


• 'Perfect' here means 'fully matured' love. Living in love and fellowshipping with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit produce fully matured love.

• When the fruit of love is fully matured we will walk with God in boldness, confidence and fearlessness. This is when we walk in perfect liberty and freedom. We are not afraid of what man can do to us because God is with us, in us and for us. Therefore we walk in a bold, compassionate and tenderhearted love that conquers all the works of darkness


• When we refer to the fear of God we indicate a respect and adherence to His principles and precepts. There is no justification to speak of ahealthy fear in a sense of being afraid! We are now full of faith and love and we walk in –

• the life • the light• the Word• love and• the Almighty God of this universe


• 1 John 3:18-19 “Dear children, let us not love with WORDS or TONGUE but with ACTIONS and IN TRUTH. This then is how we know that we belong to the Truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence (NIV)”.

the fruit of the spirit is love the seed of love the word of reconciliation. life, light and love....

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