I just found this meme over at Heart of Wisdom and thought I would join.  I long to bear fruit for the Lord.  It is amazing that He provides us with what we need to live a life that is pleasing to Him.  He has given us the Holy Spirit and as we surrender to Him we are given strength and victory in our lives. 

I was thinking of sharing my thoughts on each "piece" of fruit a week but I am not exactly sure. I think I will just see what the Lord has for me each week and then I will share with you all. 

It is amazing because after I decided to do this meme I began to come across scripture and other things about the first fruit - love.  Love...we all long to be loved and have someone care for us.  Unfortunately love without the Lord is conditional so many times.  We are human and circumstances seem to affect how we respond to those around us.  We do not always respond in love. 

We know from I Corinthians 13:4-8b that: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  8 Love never fails.

I don't know about you but that is a tall order.  How can we love like that?  As a believer we have the ability to love like that - to not hold grudges and become easily angered (even in long lines at the grocery store or in traffic), to be patient and kind with our children, spouses and everyone else,  to be humble and not proud, boastful or envious of others. 

I Corinthians 13:1-3 Paul states:  "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing."

We can do all kinds of wonderful things for the Lord, our family and others but without love it means nothing.  Sometimes we may think we are acting in love but we are not - we need to compare our love with the definition in I Cor. 13:4-8b and see if it matches the selfless, humble, patient and kind love Paul talks about.  We need to also compare our lives to Jesus - He is the perfect example of love.  He came to sacrifice Himself for us - He forgave His persecutors and walked with the person who would betray and deny Him.  He loved them enough to die for them.  Thank you Jesus!

The good news is:  the Lord is able and willing to help us love our families, friends and even our enemies.  As we surrender to Him and His will for our lives He will make it possible.  It may not be easy because our flesh and our enemy do not want us to love with the love of God.  We will need to persevere through meditating on the word and communicating with our Father in heaven. 

Have a blessed week loving the Lord and loving those around you....