Am I Growing In Love?

Am I Growing in Love?

I was sitting outside reading, and when I was done, I just sat there for a moment in the quiet. I heard a woodpecker and watched some ants. They were diligently working. They knew their purpose, and they got to it each and every day.

I’ve asked myself and God this question before: What is my purpose?

I grew up in church, and there was a lot of emphasis put on being called to pastor, be a missionary, or be an evangelist.

So, as I sought the Lord, He showed me that my purpose was to spread His Word.

We don’t have to be a special anything to tell others about who God is. That’s an important lesson to learn because we can get stuck on the thought of not being one of those things above—or at least I did.

Let’s explore our purpose:

-         Love as God loves—that’s the greatest.

-         Grow in God and grow closer to Him. He gives us the fruit of the Spirit as a guide.

Galatians 5:22-23 “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

-         Share the Gospel with others.

So, as I sat outside and thought, I really focused on a question that I had just read:

“Am I growing in love?”

Not just love for my family and friends, but love for ALL—even my enemies. (I don’t think I have any, but still.)

In another book I’m reading, it talks about the discipline of the mind—sitting purposefully in the quiet, setting our minds on Christ and not on earthly things or distractions, and allowing Christ to direct our thoughts.

Honestly, sometimes I can sit and think about nothing and just clear my mind, but I’m not necessarily sitting there allowing God to direct my thoughts.

This is a good point because when we are purposeful about letting Christ direct our thoughts, we are better able to hear from Him without questioning where the thought came from.

So, let’s talk about disciplining ourselves so that we can think more about Christ and grow in love as God intended.

God is love. We got that, right?

It is who He is, and He cannot be separated from that.

We are to become more like Him and less like ourselves (John 30:30) as we grow in God, so this means, essentially, that we also need to become more loving.

When we learn to live out this fruit of the Spirit, the others will begin to follow because we will more easily recognize how to live out those fruits as well.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 & 13 is a well-known scripture used as weddings but let’s hold it up to the Character of God and His love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7,13 - "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance…. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love."

We know that God’s character exemplifies love, and in this Scripture, it tells us what love is—patient, kind, not jealous, not boastful, not proud, not rude. It’s not demanding or irritable and keeps no record of being wronged. You get the point.

So, when you read over this and hold it up to your own character, how does it compare to God’s character?

I know that comparing ourselves has a bad connotation, but in this case, I think we really need to dive into it.

If we are to love as God loves, then we have to hold ourselves up to something to know what we need to work on.

I know personally I have failed many times, and often, at all of these things. I do try to uphold the fruits of the Spirit and grow in those areas because, honestly, just trying to love as God loves is going to be a process that may never end for me.

Why is that?

It’s because I’m not perfect, and I will make mistakes.

So, what is the purpose? What is my purpose? If even learning to love better will take all my years, then how can I walk out God’s purpose?

With Him in the lead.

That’s all we can do.

We are His children, and like a good Father, He wants to teach us and guide us.

With that being said, the best way we can fully walk out our purpose is to fully surrender all that we are to God.

So, what is our purpose?

To live for God - Surrender all we are to Him and walk in obedience.