The Bible is a beautiful tapestry with many threads woven, one of which is the importance of love, joy, and peace.
The answer to why love, joy, and peace are so important to God is they are the three critical elements to the eternity He is offering to those of us who willingly choose to be part of His family. He has planned heaven to be a place where everyone will be joyful for all eternity. This is only possible if everyone there is living the fruit of the Spirit, Gal 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." anything short of that would not be heaven.
When we finally understand God's love, it brings us His peace, allowing us to experience His joy. This process leads us to live the fruit of the Spirit every minute of every day. And, this is what He means when He tells us to abide in Him, Jn 15:5, "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." for without Him we can do nothing meaningful and are destined to be tossed to-and-fro by the sea of this unfaithful world, Eph 4:14, "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive."
Before we can believe in Jesus, we must understand His love is unconditional, which He proved to us by willingly dying on the cross, before we repented from our sins, before we even knew He existed, Rom 5:8, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." And because He told us that no man can have greater love than to die for his friend, Jn 15:13, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." we learn He wants to be our friend, in addition to already loving us, and this leads us to love Him, 1 Jn 4:19, "We love him, because he first loved us." Our love for Him leads us to accept Him as our Lord, not just our savior. He is all-powerful, loves us, and wants to be our friend. Where would we find a better Lord? This is why we believe in Him, which helps us keep His commandments. Rev 14:12, "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." and, His commandments are not difficult, Matthew 11:30, "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." for He only asks us to, Galatians 5:14, "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
Understanding what love is and finally believing He loves us unconditionally frees us from the lies that bind us. He calls us to love everyone. Matt 5:44, "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;" because there is no reward for loving only those who love us, Matt 5:46, "For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?" This love He offers leads us to an eternity filled with ever-increasing joy. Love without limits, a love without end.
God has placed us in unique places throughout this world. This blog is about sharing His Word; please share it with those you believe would be blessed by hearing it. Bless you! If you want to receive the weekly blog, email us atbill@reasoningwithgod.com. If you want to read past blogs, go to https://www.reasoningwithgod.com/blog.
Comentarios