Fruits

By Lisa Thompson

Nutrients are essential components that are important in the body's functions and processes. Each of these nutrients performs a particular work to promote good health. Every day, the body produces skin, bones, and muscles. The body produces red blood cells that carry oxygen and important nutrients throughout the body; it sends out nerve signals and formulates chemical messengers to and from the brain. All these bodily processes require raw materials, which turns into energy. Do you wonder where your body gets all the energy from? Do you wonder where your spirit gets all the energy from? Food is the primary source of the body's energy. The Word is the primary source of the spiritual energy. Energy comes from the food people consume, the water they drink, and the air they breathe. The love we have, the peace we bring, the joy within, the kindness we give, the patience we sustain, the goodness we portray, the gentleness we portray, the faithfulness we stand on, and the self-control we adhere to are all necessary for our spiritual survival for the times we are living in. Aside from that, the body needs essential vitamins and minerals to function properly. Carbohydrates is your love and joy, the main source for the brain. Fats often get a bad reputation but supports many body processes such as blood clotting, building cells, absorption of vitamins and minerals, and the movement of the muscles. This is your peace and patience. Protein provides the building blocks of the body. Each cell in the body contains protein, and it's important for health, growth and body maintenance. This is your kindness and goodness. Vitamins are crucial for warding off disease, and not getting enough of them can cause a wide array of diseases and health problems. Minerals aid in the functions of the body, including metabolism, staying properly hydrated and building strong teeth and bones. This is your gentleness and faithfulness. Water is important in the body. It's considered a vital nutrient the body can't survive without. The doctors recommend drinking eight to ten glasses of water daily to promote optimum health. This is your self-control. Have a fruit a day; it will keep the doctor away.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 21, 2019
• ISBN: 9781684563241

Lisa Thompson

Lisa Thompson is a children’s novelist and the author of the best-selling The Goldfish Boy and The Light Jar. The Goldfish Boy was a Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month and was nominated for the Carnegie Medal, the Branford Boase Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize.

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Fruits

Lisa Thompson

Copyright © 2019 Lisa Thompson

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING, INC.

New York, NY

First originally published by Page Publishing, Inc. 2019

ISBN 978-1-68456-325-8 (Hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-68456-324-1 (Digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Preface

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. What do these mean? What do they really mean? In this journey, I will share some insight on these beautiful fruits and what I have learned on this journey.

We should all strive to attain these different characteristics of the Holy Spirit during our daily walk with Christ so that we can become more like Jesus.

Chapter 1

Love

Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5).

Love is the accurate estimation and adequate supply of another person’s needs. No person can do this completely, only God can.

In Italy, the grapes are picked, crushed, fermented, aged, and then bottled. The grape turns out to be nutritious, sweet, good for you and life-giving; it’s the end product of a process.

The fruit of the Spirit is the results in one’s life of God at work in us. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:22–23). Paul writes this in a system of law, meaning that with these fruits, there is no law against them.

Love is apparently the mother of all good things. There are four Greek words for love that are important for people to understand. They are agape, phileo, storge, and eros. Three of them appear in the Bible, and we should understand what these words mean and how they differ.

The Greek word for sexual love or passionate love is eros, and we get English words such as erotic. When eros was used as a proper noun, it referred to the Greek god of love. The Greek word eros does not appear in the biblical text, but it has had such an impact on English and our view of sexual love that it is important to mention.

The Greek word that refers to the love of God, one of the kinds of love we are to have for people, is agape. Agape is the very nature of God, for God is love (1 John 4:7–12, 16). The big key to understanding agape is to realize that it can be known from the action it prompts. People today are accustomed to thinking of love as a feeling, but that is not necessarily the case with agape love. Agape is love because of what it does, not because of how it feels.

God so loved (agape) that he gave his Son. It did not feel good to God to do that, but it was the loving thing to do. Christ so loved (agape) that he gave his life. He did not want to die, but he loved, so he did what God required. A mother who loves a sick baby will stay up all night long, caring for it, which is not something she wants to do, but is a true act of agape love.

The point is that agape love is not simply an impulse generated from feelings. Rather, agape love is an exercise of the will, a deliberate choice. This is why God can command us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44, Exodus 23:1–5). He is not commanding us to have a good feeling for our enemies but to act in a loving way toward them. Agape love is related to obedience and commitment and not necessarily feeling and emotion. Loving someone is to obey God on another’s behalf, seeking his or her long-term blessing and profit.

The way to know that we love (agape) God is that we keep his commandments. Jesus said, Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me (John 14:21a). There are people who say they love God, but their lifestyle is contrary to the will of God. These people mistake their feeling of affection for God for true agape love. Jesus made this clear: He who does not love me will not obey my teaching (John 14:24).

Love is the distinctive character of the Christian life in relation to other Christians and to all humanity. The loving thing to do may not always be easy, and true love is not mushy sentimentalism. There is often a cost to genuine love. For example, punishing criminals to keep society safe is loving but not easy or pleasant, and asking someone to leave your Christian fellowship because he persists in flagrant sin is loving but never easy (1 Corinthians 5:1–5). That is not to say the agape love cannot have feelings attached to it, and the ideal situation occurs when the loving thing to do also is what we want to do. People are to be known for their love to one another (John 13:35).

The third word for love we need to examine is phileo, which means to have a special interest in someone or something, frequently with focus on close association; have affection for, like, consider someone a friend. It would probably be helpful if phileo were never translated love in the New Testament, because it refers to a strong liking or a strong friendship. Of course, we see how phileo gets translated love, because in modern culture we say we love things that we strongly like: I love ice cream, I love my car, I love the way your hair looks, etc. The word phileo implies a strong emotional connection, and thus is used of the love or deep friendship between friends. You can agape your enemies, but you cannot phileo them.

The difference between agape and phileo becomes very clear in John 21:15, but unfortunately, it is obscured in almost all English translations. After being raised from the dead, Jesus met Peter. Here is the short version of what they said to each other.

Jesus: Simon, do you love [agape] me more than these [fish]?

Peter: Yes, Lord. You know that I love [phileo] you.

Jesus: Simon…do you…love [agape] me?

Peter: Yes, Lord, you know that I love [phileo] you.

Jesus: Simon…do you love [phileo] me?

Peter (grieving): Lord…you know that I love [phileo] you.

Why the difference in words for love in this conversation? Why did Jesus use agape and Peter use phileo? Jesus was asking Peter if he loved him with the love of God, a love that may require sacrifice. After all, Jesus had just gone through horrendous torture for Peter’s sake (and ours), something he did not want to do but did anyway because of his agape love. In contrast, Peter avoided possible torture by denying Jesus.

Jesus twice asked Peter, Do you agape me? (That is, Are you willing to do things for my sake that you do not want to do?) Peter, on the other hand, still felt the sting of having denied Jesus and was hopeful that their friendship was intact. Did Jesus hold Peter’s denial against him? Would he still treat Peter as a close associate and companion? Peter was not sure where he stood with Jesus, so he was trying to let Jesus know that he was still a true friend, and had phileo love for Jesus.

The third time Jesus spoke to Peter, he came to Peter’s level and asked if Peter were indeed a true friend (phileo), which grieved Peter. Nevertheless, it was important, because Jesus knew what Peter did not know that Jesus would ascend into heaven, and Peter and the others would be left to carry out his work on earth, which would require that they all be his good friends and do his will even when it meant hardship.

The fourth Greek word we need to understand is storge, which is the love and affection that naturally occurs between parents and children, can exist between siblings, and exists between husbands and wives in a good marriage. It occurs in Romans 12:10 in the word philostorgos, which is a compound word made up of philos (the noun form of phileo) and storge. Romans 12:10 is a very important verse directing us to be very loving and kind to each other.

As to your brotherly love, let there be deep friendship and family-affection toward one another (Romans 12:10).

If one is going to have a wonderful Christian life, obedient to the voice of God, and have rich fellowship with other people, he or she will need to exercise all three kinds of love. We need agape love because some of the things that God requires of us are not fun or easy but need to be done. We need to have phileo love because we need true friends to stand with us, people who are emotionally connected to us and with whom we can share our deepest thoughts and feelings. Lastly, we Christians need to have storge love between us, a deep family affection that comforts us and helps us feel connected to all our spiritual family.

Love is at the heart of God. It’s at the core of all that’s real, all that is human, and all that is meaningful. When you look at great families, there is love at the core. When you look at a great business, there is love at the core. When you look at great causes, there is love at the core. Love for God and love for fellow man.

There is something so expressive and so consuming about this thing we call love that it captures our whole lives. Love is at the heart of God. It’s at the core of all that’s real and all that is meaningful. When you look at great families, great businesses, great causes, love is at the core.

I heard this from a pastor of what love means: Love is the accurate estimate and the adequate supply of another’s persons need.

One human being cannot fully meet another human’s beings needs. God needs to be in this equation. John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

It translates to this: For God so loved [say your name here] that he accurately estimated that I was no good and needed a redeemer; therefore, he adequately supplied a redeemer in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. So that [say your name] can live with him forever. Therefore (your name) knows she/he is loved.

The human race is not valuable because they choose to love God, but a man is made valuable because God loves him. This is God’s grace for us. We only know how to love because he shows us how to love.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is Love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37, 39), For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

What I love about God’s love is that you can’t stop people from loving. Love is defined as patient, kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It does not dishonor others. It is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails. And these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:4–8, 13).

When women are asked, What are the qualities we look for in a man? Christian and non-Christian women most often say they are looking for someone who is kind and considerate. Men believe that we as women are looking for that outward appearance, the six-pack, the biceps, triceps, and the like, but the majority of very gorgeous women, well, take a look at their husbands, they are regular, normal-looking men that are simply kind. Most men are looking for a kind woman as well, to bring home to mom. They look for someone that reminds them of at least one or two great characteristics of their mom. The kindness of God leads us to repentance and turns us around.

Does your presence say, Here I am, or does it say, There you are, God?

Love says, There you are God!

Here is what love doesn’t do. It does not envy: I don’t want what you have. I don’t want your position. I don’t want your friends. I don’t want your spouse. It doesn’t boast: I’m better than you. I did that. It’s not proud: Look at me. It does not dishonor. It does not throw you under the bus. It’s not self-seeking: I’ll find a way to get ahead of you. This is not love.

Love is never about you, and it keeps no record of wrong. It is not energy-consuming and is very tiring and a waste of time, energy, and talent. This is not love. Love does not delight in evil.

What does love really do? It always protects. A mom protecting her child. A father trusting his teenage daughter or son. Love hopes. A husband’s project did not do so well, and a wife tells him, Well, we will try again tomorrow. Love perseveres. God will always hunt you down. He will never give up on you. No matter what. Love looks past wrongs. It looks past deformities. It looks past the moment of uncomfortableness and disagreements.

When love stops, law begins. We don’t need to be lawbreakers and we need to continue to be law abiders, but what would it look like if we were law overwhelmers? Because when we love, no law can touch it, no law can stop it, no law can zap it, no law can squelch it, no law can blunt it. Nothing is greater than love. We need to be so soaked in his Spirit so that we can be more each day like his Son, Jesus.

God wants us to live the same way both inside and out and one of the great dilemmas in Christianity today, is that we have a division between your inside and your outside. Most of us have been taught to put on a good show on the outside to make sure that everyone thinks we are doing good, that we are a good person and that is the image side of us, but it’s really the internal side that matters, and if we don’t get the internal worked out, eventually we will begin to live a life