Above all God wants us to love. This is the good fruit that Jesus wants to see growing out of our lives (Luke 13:6-9): the fruit of love. Jesus went looking for the fruit of love among his people but what he found was only legalism. You may have great spiritual gifts and an impressive record of great ministry achievements; you may have led thousands to Christ and fed the poor of many nations; you may give your life as a martyr for Christ; but if you do not have love then all these things are just meaningless noise in God’s ears (See 1 Corinthians 13). God is not interested in your moral and spiritual achievements. All he is interested in is whether you loved those whom he gave you to love. Life is not about big achievements, it’s about small acts of love. These are what the steps of faith consist in: one small act of love after another. Legalism separates the act from the love and in doing so the act loses its meaning. Love must be guided by the law of God but our actions must be not be driven by the law but by love. If our actions are driven by a need to achieve some spiritual status by obedience to the law, then they will be empty. Only what is done in love really counts. It is often hard to know what is the right thing to do in every situation, but it is generally more evident what is the most loving thing to do. Above all God wants us to love.
Are you facing a complicated situation or a big decision? What is the most loving way to go about it?
Read Luke 13:1-17
