Show Notes
Galatians 5:16-26
THE WAY OF LOVE VS. THE WAY OF SELFISHNESS
LOVE VS. SELFISHNESS, JOY VS. DESPAIR, PEACE VS. ANXIETY, PATIENCE VS. HURRY, KINDNESS VS. HARSHNESS, GOODNESS VS. BROKENNESS, FAITHFULNESS VS. COMPROMISE, GENTLENESS VS. ROUGHNESS, AND SELF-CONTROL VS. APPETITES.
DANGER O1: THE FRUIT OF A GOOD PEOPLE
DANGER 02: THE FRUIT OF GOOD PEOPLE AND THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT ARE THE SAME
FRUIT GROWS
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident:
GALATIANS 5:18-19
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is…
Fruit isn’t achieved by working, but is birthed by abiding, and sustained through connection.
David Guzik
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
MATTHEW 15:5
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
ROMANS 8:5
FRUIT SHOWS
Fruit shows US what/who were are connected to and shows OTHERS what/who we are connected to.
FRUIT FEEDS
This fruit is grown IN US, but it’s grown FOR OTHERS.
WORLD-SHAPED LOVE
But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self,
2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5
THE FRUIT OF WORLD-SHAPED LOVE IS SELFISHNESS
“We don’t worship Satan, we worship ourselves using the metaphorical representation of the qualities of Satan. Satan is the name used by Christians for that force of individuality and pride within us.”
ANTON LAVEY (Founder of the Church of Satan)
THE ROOT OF A WORLD-SHAPED LOVE: “I NEED LOVE.”
Back in the thirteenth century, the king of Sicily, Frederick II, conducted a diabolical experiment intended to discover what language children would naturally grow up to speak if never spoken to. He thought it would be either Hebrew, Greek, Latin or Arabic. Some things are just obvious, right? So King Frederick the Great took babies from their mothers at birth and placed them in the care of nurses who were forbidden to speak in their hearing. But a second rule was imposed, as well: the nurses were not allowed to touch the infants. To his great dismay, Frederick’s experiment was cut short, but not before something tragically significant regarding human nature was revealed. As you may have guessed, the babies grew up to speak no language at all because they died. In the year 1248, an Italian historian named Salimbene di Adam recorded, with an air of scientific observation, “They could not live without petting.” The babies literally died for want of touch.
Astounding! Modern medicine calls this phenomenon, “failure to thrive.” For some reason, we humans flourish under the influence of love and we gradually die without it.
Modern science is now proving through controlled studies that human beings are literally engineered for love. We are made for love, as if our DNA contains the message, “You must love and be loved in order to survive.”
THE FREDERICK EXPERIMENT
CHRIST-SHAPED LOVE
To love well in a time of selfishness, we have to be loved well.
JON TYSON
THE ROOT OF CHRIST-SHAPED LOVE: “I AM LOVED.”
8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1 JOHN 4:8-10
Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.
EPHESIANS 3:17-19
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
ROMANS 5:8
THE FRUIT OF A CHRIST-SHAPED LOVE IS SELFLESSNESS
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
EPHESIANS 5:1-2
“The Biblical concept of agape love involves giving of yourself for the benefit of another, even at your own expense. Biblical love is defined by passionately and righteously seeking the well-being of another. Biblical love is an act of the will and not just a fuzzy feeling in the stomach. That’s why God can command us to love one another. Love really has nothing to do with whether you feel loving at a particular moment. It has to do with the need of the person being loved, not the feelings of the one doing the loving.”
TONY EVANS