Love. There are many variations and meanings of love. People love chocolate or a dog. A woman loves a man. A follower of Christ loves the Lord. Love in the Biblical sense is a word which has its root in Leviticus 19:17-18, “You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.” Jesus then expanded on love in Matthew 5:43-44, “You have heard that it was said, ‘you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
William Barclay in the Daily Bible Study on Galatians defines love in Galatians 5:22 as “the deliberate effort – which we can only make with the help of God – never to seek anything but the best, even for those who seek the worst for us.” People at church are sometimes unkind; a husband and wife are sometimes hostile toward one another; parents are sometimes more overbearing with their children than they need to be; employers are often unforgiving. These are familiar situations. Then there are times when complete strangers act cruelly or out of hate and anger toward you. Our response to these situations is a measure of how much we have grown into the love that Jesus tells us we must have. It is a measure of how much the Holy Spirit is influencing how we interact with others.
We must notice that the Lord is repeatedly mocked, ignored, cursed at, and hurt by the sins of the people on earth and that without Jesus Himself having this kind of love we would all certainly be wiped off the face of the earth. It takes an incredible amount of this type of love to exercise restraint in the face of our sin.
To show someone kindness when they mean us harm is very difficult. The Holy Spirit is promised to us, and our Galatians lesson tells us that our relationships with other people will be affected by this love when we allow the Holy Spirit to transform us.
One situation which comes to mind when I think of Biblical love is that of arming ourselves. There is a fine line between arming ourselves for protection and relying on the Lord for our protection. Definitely killing someone or shooting at them with the intent to kill is not something any follower of Christ should be doing. Remember that in arming ourselves for defense we are protecting treasures on earth which Christ warned us not to value. (Matthew 6:19-20) Instead, we should follow the words of Paul in Romans 12:17-21, “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. 19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,’ says the Lord. 20 ‘BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD.’ 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
By arming ourselves, we enter the realm of possibility that we become the judge of another person by ending their life. As I tell my children when they strike back at one of their siblings who has wronged them, very often the punishment we return to someone is more harsh than the original offense. Such judgment is not ours to give.
Joy. The joy spoken of here is joy that fills our entire being and cannot be taken away. It is a joy that comes from knowing we belong to the Lord and that nothing can come our way which He does not already know. It is a joy that knows the Lord loves us deeply and only has our best interests in mind. We can have joy or happiness briefly when we receive a gift or a piece of candy, and then when the newness of the gift wears off or the candy is eaten, the joy is gone. The joy spoken of here is not temporary, it is permanent, it is there even when we go through difficult times, and it is available to anyone and everyone who allows the Holy Spirit to transform them into the likeness of Jesus Christ.
This joy has its roots in the Old Testament stemming from gladness, rejoicing and joy (see Psalm 30:11 and Zephaniah 3:17). This joy will definitely have an impact on our relationships. A joyful person will most certainly be contagious. Having joy flow out of our lives and into our relationships is a Biblical concept from Psalm 23:5 and Matthew 12:34. When our cup is full of joy and it overflows, the overflow is what affects others around us. Jesus assures us that the same is true of an evil person, that the evil will affect those around us. Therefore, we have a choice to affect people around us with joy or with evil.
This joy originates in the Lord and is in us through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Once again, the joy we have is a measure of how the Holy Spirit has influenced and transformed us. I once saw my father deal with a clerk at a moving truck rental office, and how he handled the situation left a permanent mark on me. The truck he reserved was not ready. The office had made a number of reservations that now they couldn’t fill because the trucks had not arrived. One customer was angry and in a fit of rage cursed at the clerk and made demands which were impossible to fulfill because there was no truck to give him.
When it was my father’s turn, he remained calm and even tried to lighten the situation by making jovial conversation with the clerk. I don’t remember at this point whether we even got the truck, but I do remember asking him later why he wasn’t forceful with the clerk. His response was that getting upset, rude and demanding would not change the fact that a truck was not available, and he believed that treating the clerk with respect and trying to lighten the circumstance would actually get him served sooner than the man with the angry outbursts.
It was a valuable lesson for me, that often we cannot change a situation, such as traffic or the long line in the grocery store, so if we allow ourselves to become angry, we accomplish nothing good. A joyful person in today’s world is actually unexpected and a welcome sight to the people around us. They will certainly notice it and will be able to see that there is a deeper reason for our attitude.
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