Do you do the things you do with a spirit of love?  Love is a central theme for the month of February; many people will seek it, abuse it, demand it, overlook it, take it for granted, even abandon it.

Paul tells us in Galatians 5 how we should stand firm, not becoming caught up in the rules and regulations that keep us in bondage. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Verse 6 says, “...The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” He also shows in the next scriptures how we should live by the Spirit, and we will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. “The sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They’re in conflict with each other, so that we don’t do what we want to do. If we are led by the Spirit, we are not under the law. Acts of the sinful nature include sexual immorality, impurity, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness and orgies. Those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God . 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. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit, let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”

Those powerful words cause us to think deeply about how we live and how we are led!  We quickly rule out the worst of the sinful nature acts, but can we truly say we wipe away jealousy, envy, discord, and selfish ambition when they rear their ugly heads in our hearts? Any sinful act that causes us to be distanced from our Father and from serving Him with pure hearts will keep us from entering heaven, even selfishness, hatred, and conceit. Even worse is when we allow these things to separate us as Christians and cause us to be a stumbling block for anyone who could come to Christ through us as a witness.  We have allowed the ways of this world to dull our senses to sincere living for Jesus and being led by the Spirit. Confusion and chaos, frustration and fear, spinning our wheels and seeing no results in our efforts can be sure indicators that we are being led by the sinful nature, even when we are doing good things. Being led by the spirit means we give God first place in our lives, trusting and obeying Him, pressing on even when we don’t see or truly understand where and why the Spirit leads us, and remembering that the only thing that really matters is that our faith expresses itself through LOVE!

God tells us in John 14:15 the importance of loving and pleasing God. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”  David knew his first obligation was to please God, not men. And he understood that by pleasing God, he would avail himself of God’s power. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

David lived a life of adventure, on and off track for the Lord. He made many mistakes in his lifetime; he also dared to dream and lived huge and heartily with God’s blessings. David loved the Lord with a big heart that kept his sinful nature in check. When he sinned and found himself out of God’s will, he took it to the Lord with a repenting heart and found favor with God. He was genuine, not one who says, ‘sorry’ and never skips a beat and never really means it anyway. David loved deeply and devotedly the Lord who stayed with him through the good times and the bad, and He kept His covenant. David expressed his faith through love.  Did he suffer for his mistakes? You bet he did! We don’t escape consequences just for saying we are sorry. And when we continue our sinful natures, our sincere repentence is questionable. Yet, we are not to judge one another; that job is for God only. Proverbs 20:22 says it best, “Do not say, I will punish wrongdoing,” Wait on the Lord and He will take care of it ... in our own lives and others. Luke 6:35 reminds us not to judge others, “Do not say what is wrong in other people’s lives. Then other people will not say what is wrong in your life.”   David taught us many valuable lessons on living...but his greatest was loving God with all our hearts, for he was truly a man after God’s own heart.  He did wrong, but he realized it and asked for forgiveness from a God who knew him well and forgave and forgot his sins. David was crowned king and lived to see much fruit from his faithfulness to God. Does God have our hearts s as He did David’s, or do we trot to Him only in troublesome times? God’s love is deep and wide with room for error; is ours a reflection of our Savior or of our sinful nature?  What a powerful thought in this season of love.

Writing this weekly column is truly faith expressing itself through love. I felt unsure, unworthy, and unequipped when I entered the editor’s office at The Sampson Independent in 2006. Sharing my vision of writing positive stories of inspiration was a giant step of faith. Waiting six months for the Lord to work things dampened my soaring spirits, but what he planted in my heart happened in His time and in His way, not mine. I am so blessed as I hope those who faithfully read this column are. I pray you come closer to Jesus, cherishing His love and those whom He has given you to love, and that you remember that all that matters is that we live and exercise our faith in love.  I know there are those who criticize and critique my writing.  May I humbly say that what I share with you is from a heart that listens to what God puts there, whether it be in the middle of a long, lonely night or on a busy day when I make a bee line for my computer.  He stirs and I exercise my love for writing and living my life in submission to my Father.  I realize you can find run-on sentences, fragments, and participles that often dangle. I don’t use spell or grammar check. I simply write and send it in faith. Spending time seeking perfection often squelches the spirit. So, for all critics who love to red ink a writing, please know that I labor long hours making sure His message is clear and complete without worrying over proper paragraphing or person, but it is straight from my heart to yours.  Please accept it in the spirit it is written; may the fruit bless multitudes to seek Jesus and share His love.  Remember that that fruit of the Spirit is joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, but the greatest is LOVE! Let us keep in step with the Spirit and not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. I am not feeling biggety one bit by writing this column. I pray that no one is envious or feels I do it for my own glory. I do this in obedience to my Father with every word written in love.  I praise God for the fruit and for making it possible to share stories of His unending love and grace in our local newspaper.  May the stories He sends meet you where you are and fill your heart and life with His amazing LOVE! Amen.