God’s Love Changes Us

Welcome! I’m joining Debbie at Heart Choices today for In Other Words Tuesday. She’s chosen the quote below by Jim Cymbala for us to ponder and write about.

“The fruit of the Spirit is love.” (Galatians 5:22) Love is a fruit growing within us from a supernatural source. It’s not your love, yet it is, since the Spirit works in you both to will and to do loving things that are on his mind. You never hear of an apple tree struggling to produce its fruit. As long as sap flows within the tree, apples will form and blossom. And so it is with the Holy Spirit and love. He is our life and bears the fruit – not us. That’s why he was sent to live in us.” 

From Spirit Rising: Tapping into the Power of the Holy Spirit by Jim Cymbala 

All of us who believe and confess Jesus Christ to be the Son of God and our Savior have experienced true love from God. Not through anything we’ve done, but because God loves us so much He chose to sacrifice Jesus for our salvation. (1 John 4:9-16)

That is sacrificial love. And it is a love we are not humanly capable of on our own. It is only through the Holy Spirit living in us that we are able to love others even when we don’t receive love in return.

God is working in us to produce the fruit of love. We may think we can love others on our own, but can we? When we do something for someone else, do we expect something in return? (Even if we don’t say it, don’t we hope for it?)

Would we be able to love our enemies without God first loving us?

Could we even love ourselves without knowing and believing how much God loves us?

God’s unfailing love works in us, from the inside out. His love envelopes and changes our hearts. And it creates in us the ability to show His love to others.

Will you pray with me?

Dear Heavenly Father,

You know how unloving this world can be. I don’t want to go the way of the world. I want to love others the way You love me. Please create in me the desire for the changes You want to make in my heart. I know change is not easy and at times it can be painful, but changes You make are always worth it. I claim no credit for any change others may see in me. It is all Your work—changing me from the inside out. Thank you Father for your unfailing love. All glory and honor goes to You. It is in the name of Your Son, Jesus, I pray. Amen.

                                                          Love,

                                                          Your daughter

Thank you for joining me here today!

In Christ,

Laura

Linking up with Heart Choices, On Your HeartTuesdays, Just Write, Winsome Wednesday, Word Filled Wednesday, and Women Living Well Wednesdays.