the fruit of the spirit.

love. love. love.

we are human. we mess up. we have a sin nature. as stated in Galatians 5:16-26, the flesh of our bodies wants the opposite of what the Spirit wants. but, as a Christian, you should desire what the Spirit desires. Christ has ALREADY DEFEATED the flesh!!! so, we should try to possess the fruit of the Spirit- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

let's focus on love!!!!!

this might even be the most important fruit. Jesus himself stated in Matthew 22:36-40 that loving the Lord and loving your neighbor were the two GREATEST commandments in the law.

we are to love God wholeheartedly. i mean, how couldn’t we??? it was because of His great love for us that He created us, blessed us beyond measure, and sent His only Son to die for our sins so that we could spend eternity in heaven (check out John 3:16). and Jesus even loved us enough to die a cruel death that He did not deserve. how crazy is that???

we are sinners. we are so undeserving of all the Lord does for us, and all that He has done in the past (idk about you but i still can’t get over the sacrifice he made for us ¡¡¡¡). we are flawed. we disobey. we run away. we go our own way. yet God is ALWAYS standing there, waiting on us with open arms. ready to forgive us. ready to bless us beyond our comprehension. His love NEVER fails, even though we do.

Jesus is the greatest example of love. He IS love. God created us in His own image, so we are to strive to live like Him. we are to obey His commands. so, if the greatest commandment is to love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, we should prob try our best to do so (although it’s a pretty easy command to follow bc God is pretty cool)

loving the Lord means that you should strive to live your life for Him. glorify Him in all that you do. you can glorify the Lord in how you do your schoolwork. how you play your sports. even how you clean your room. do everything to the best of your ability all for the One above. do His will for your life instead of your own. His plans are bigger and far greater than your own plans anyway.

this means that you need to ditch anything in your life that prevents you from living for the one who gave you life in the first place. get rid of your bad habits. get rid of toxic relationships in your life. get rid of any distractions or anything causing you to stray. this is easier said than done though, i know, but if you place your trust in the Lord, He will give you the strength you need to overcome ANYTHING.

if you love Jesus, you must love others. that kinda goes hand-and-hand. The Lord loves every single creature and person He created, so you should strive to as well.

this is another thing that is easier said than done!!! some people can get on your last nerve. they can do you wrong in so many ways. but, as Christians we are called to show them the love of Jesus no matter what. you don’t necessarily have to like the person, just love em!!!! also, do not judge anyone or hate them because of who they are or their actions. we all sin, we just sin different from each other. remember only God can judge ya :-)

this means you must be kind to others. at all times. if someone wrongs you, do not hurt them in return. instead, show them kindness. a verse i have had to cling to throughout my life is Romans 12:21- “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” as many times as i have wanted to go off on someone or punch my sister in the face, i have had to remember to not get revenge. do not wish for bad things to happen to anyone. instead, treat others how you would want to be treated (the golden rule- we learned this in pre-k so idk why people still ignore it to this day). we need to lift others up. tell that random girl that you like her shoes or that she has pretty hair!!! tell your friends you are proud of them!! perform a random act of kindness and pay for the order behind you at Chick-fil-A (the Lord’s food!!!!!) SHOW GOD’S LOVE!!!!

so, as you go throughout your day, remember to LOVE.

love God, love people. be kind. do something nice for someone today and expect nothing in return. it’ll make you feel good and you’ll make someone else happy!!! ♡♡♡

thank you for reading. God bless!!!