“Love Tree,” part three

It seems kind of pathetic, to sit there as a branch on the Love Tree, waiting for love to be produced in my life. I get kind of impatient … what should I be DOING? I like how Dallas Willard talks about the formation of love (and the other fruits of the Spirit) in our lives: he says we do have a vital role. What is it? To suck it up, tough it out, random acts of kindness, be the ball? To be willing, says Willard. Our role is to be willing to have the Holy Spirit create love in us, create peace in us, create joy in us, that we then offer to each other and to the world.

Is that it? Does it seem too easy to just be willing? But the trick here is to really be willing. Often I say I am, and think I am, when my life clearly demonstrates that I am not. For example, I know from 1 Corinthians 13 that love “bears all things.” All things! Let’s be honest, I generally don’t want to bear all things. I’m not really willing and eager to bear all things. I don’t really want to “cover a multitude of sins,” especially other people’s sins against me (1 Ptr 4:8). The truth is, I want love applied to me, and maybe to “act” loving sometimes, but I don’t want to truly be loving, to have the fruit of love formed in me. Because that would mean I have to bear all things. In Colossians 3, Paul describes it as “making allowance for the faults of others, and forgiving anyone who offends you.” And that’s just one of the things love does!

The good news here is that God’s already spotted my weaknesses and hesitancy. He’s willing to work around it. In 2 Corinthians 12:10, Paul says, “When I am weak, then I am strong,” referring to Christ’s power at work within him. In 2 Corinthians 4:7, he says, “We hold this treasure in jars of clay, to show this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” And as I draw near to God, as I talk to Him in prayer, and read His Word, and serve with His people, I find it easier to be willing, because my relationship with Him is deepened and my focus is on Him, not on myself.

When I don’t see evidence of fruit in my life, it means two things: I’m not really willing to have fruit formed in me (and I’m resisting God’s opportunities to form fruit in me) and I am focusing too much on myself and not enough on Him. It means I have not restructured my life in such a way as to revolve around Him and what He wants for me; I am still trapped in my old way of thinking about what is best for me, and what is best for my family, and what I think is right. But God also promised to transform my thinking, and if I ask Him, I will “be transformed through the renewing of my mind” (Romans 12:2). Jesus finishes up the Love Tree metaphor by saying, “Remain in me.” Stay plugged in. Remember how much I love you, and act accordingly.