Byproducts of Love

So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.
—1 Corinthians 12:31 (he’s about to talk about love)

I want to reflect on a simple, profound statement I heard this week.

During a leadership meeting, I had been inviting our group to reflect on the centrality of love as the foundational expression of faith and growth. At first glance, using love as a catch-all summation of Christian faith can feel simplistic. But the rich theological foundations of this perspective are undeniable. This is the way of Jesus, and the first generations of Christians articulated it clearly.

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:35)
If I have faith that can move mountains but don't have love, I am nothing. (1 Cor 13:2)
Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. (Colossians 3:14)
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:12) 
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)
This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (1 John 4:10)
The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. (Gal 5:6)

So I invited those around our table to share a way that they were experiencing growth in light of the transforming truth of God’s love.

One of our leaders shared that she had recently realized that some old wounds and hurts from her past were being healed. There was newfound freedom and forgiveness in areas that had been pain points for many years.
But it’s how it happened that I found so fascinating. She said,

“The interesting thing is that it’s not because I’ve been working on it specifically or thinking about these things, but because I’ve been growing in love.”

I’m inviting you to just sit with that statement for a moment. Maybe read it again.

…

I’m assuming that most people reading are wanting to follow the way of Jesus. We want to be people who do, like, a good job at life, right?
But the to-do list to get there sometimes seems endless. Dang, I have thousands of things that need fixing still. My parenting needs work. I have things from the past I still need to release. I can be envious of other people’s situations. I can be selfish. This is only a four-minute read, so I’ll stop. But I could take up the rest of your day with my list of ways I need to grow.

The good news is that spending my life checking off each area one by one is not actually the way forward. The way forward was, is, and always will be… love.

It feels like cheating. But experiencing love is sort of a cheat code, so it checks out.
When we grow in receiving God’s love for us, and then learn to let it overflow naturally, there are a lot of byproducts. And sometimes, it happens without us even thinking about it.

Are you impatient? You can tell yourself to be more patient every time you get delayed. Or, if you grow in love, you will naturally start to see others beyond your momentary inconvenience.
Do you struggle to forgive? Receiving the love of God will eventually lead you to see others with compassion, because you’ll understand they were acting out of their own hurt.
Are you harsh with others? Experiencing God’s love changes your outlook on life and fills you with grace, and you may just find that you no longer need to be so critical—because you no longer have a reason to rank yourself against anyone.

This is why Paul speaks of the "fruit of the Spirit" in Galatians 5, rather than calling it the “tasks of the Christian.” Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control… all of these things naturally emerge from our lives when we allow the Spirit of Christ to work within us.

When that happens, things just start getting healed within us and around us. It doesn’t mean we don’t ever have to work at it. But it does shorten the to-do list of self-improvement a whole lot.

The byproduct of love is that when we’re impacted by it, everything within us gets impacted too. Every hurt, every vice, every trauma, and every perspective.

When the spring starts gushing fresh water, everything downstream gets washed.

This week, may you grow in your capacity to receive God’s love, and to express it. And may it come with all sorts of beautiful byproducts.

Jesus, help me walk in love today.

Peace,
Keith