Love is Fruitful

Love and Self-Control are like bookends. I heard Joyce Meyer say something like that in a Bible teaching series on Galatians 5:22-23, and I believe it. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." (For clarification, this "fruit of the Spirit"  could also be called the evidence that you are a believer and follower of the Trinity: God the Father, Jesus the Son, the Holy Spirit as your daily helper.) There is a LOT to talk about there, but I really want to focus on just on those bookends today...

Love. We live in a world full of people that are different, and many are difficult to love. Even so, love is the only filter through which we can all exist together in harmony. When we love, we say to the other person, "You are not me, but I value who you are," and, "Even though I do not agree with you on all counts, I respect your rights to your own opinion." When we love, we take the time to think about why we are different, and how we can get along anyway. 

Love is not blind acceptance of another person's opinions, however. I believe that I can love you very well without believing that everything you say or do is correct. After all, I have loved my husband for 32 years, even though he consistently stacks the dishes in the sink incorrectly. Oh, I have heard the logic behind his method, and it is solid. Still wrong, but I understand where he is coming from. Is there any benefit to arguing this point when it comes up? Almost never, but of course I still do sometimes...and I love him.

Self-Control. All those "fruits"  in between the bookends - joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness -  are important too. But love is first, and to practice the middle-fruits, self-control is essential! I mean, when Sweetie stacks the dishes wrong, or hangs the TP upside-down, or makes a statement that I am not super-stoked about, self-control must come into the picture.

Without self-control I react poorly. Without self-control, I say things that I cannot unsay. Without self-control, I do things that I cannot undo. When I do not practice self-control (and at times, I do not), I express myself without regard to the other person's feelings, beliefs and experience. Self-control is necessary if we are to love well, because self-control keeps us from pulling the trigger on that word, or action, that will devalue someone else. When I do not value you, I express the antithesis of love, and this world certainly does not need more hate.

Love and Self-Control, working together, keep me from insisting that you have to be like me if we are going to get along. Love and self-control help me to appreciate who you are in this moment, and where you have come from. Love makes me want only the best for you, and self-control keeps me from trying to change you. If we all do our best to practice self-control long enough to find out if there is anything lovely in the people around us, the world would look different, would it not?

Let me wrap up by saying that I am not nearly as loving or self-controlled as I would like to be. If you ask Sweetie, I am sure he would agree that I need much more practice. I do better than I did decades ago, but I doubt that I will ever "arrive" at perfect Love or Self-Control, so I hope that you will have patience with me. 

In the same way, I know that there are no perfect people. Even when more of us strive to practice love and self-control, sometimes things seep in that make it difficult to love...seemingly impossible at times. To that I say, "Don't give up!" You may not be able to love everybody or change the whole world, but you have the power make your little corner of the world a little more pleasant for the people around you. 

Thanks for stopping by, friends. 

Now, go find someone to love well, and Knit in Good Health!