“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”
John 15:16-17
Ten times in John’s gospel Jesus makes reference to “commandments.” Seven of those occur in John 14-15.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” John 14:15
“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” John 14:21
“But I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.” John 14:31
“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” John 15:10
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” John 15:12
“You are my friends if you do what I command you.” John 15:14
“These things I command you, so that you will love one another.” John 15:17
Clearly the fruit Jesus describes in John 15 has something to do with obedience to His commands, and those commands center on love.
Jesus’ goal for His followers is a transformed life that is increasingly characterized by love. As we experience His love personally, we should become more loving ourselves. That’s the internal fruit we talked about last week: growing up in the character of Christ as the Spirit produces His fruit in us.
This week (9/8/24) we shift our focus to the external fruit of loving relationships. Simple obedience to the commands of our Lord serves as a trellis for the transformational fruit of love to grow out of our lives. Even when (especially when) we don’t feel like loving our neighbor (be they a spouse, child, co-worker or friend) our Lord’s instructions keep us positioned to channel His lifegiving power to the place where the fruit of love is needed.
The whole fruit-bearing analogy reminds us that we cannot produce this kind of fruit on our own, only God can grow it in us through His Spirit. But we can make the effort to stay close to Jesus and choose to remain committed to His commands. Does this mean “fake it until you make it?” Not quite. It means commit to being loving until you actually become loving.
The trellis of those commitments will support the vine of internal growth the Lord is seeking to develop in you.
That’s central to the idea of our Spiritual Life Worksheet. It is healthy and valuable for us to make commitments to the Lord and each other for areas in which we are still growing. There are explicit Biblical commands for each of these four commitments, we are simply verbalizing our commitment to them corporately after individually asking the Lord to show us what our own obedience should look like.
I will trust Jesus completely.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
I will worship Jesus passionately.
“Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him… Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!”
Psalm 98:1,4
I will walk with Jesus faithfully.
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.”
Ephesians 4:1-2
I will work with Jesus diligently.
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…”
Isaiah 61:1-2a; Luke 4:17-21
Where is the Lord asking you to commit to love right now? Let the trellis of your obedience give you time and space to let the Holy Spirit grow in you the fruit of genuine, sacrificial, Christ-like love.