Fruit of Spirit 28 (Love endures all the things)

 For the past few weeks, I have been sharing on the subject; fruit of the Spirit, and currently talking about love from 1 Corinthians 13:7.

Moving into today's article, I will share "Love endures all things."

I must first say that the way God's love manifests in us is that it causes us to endure all things. So what does it mean to endure all things? We'll be delving into it shortly.

In previous articles, we talked about how love bears all things. When we look at that attribute of love, it may seem the same as love endures all things. No, it isn't.

Here is the difference: The person you are bearing with may not be doing something to harm you directly or doing something against you directly. For instance, we bear with some people's attitudes and ways of doing things. But when it comes to enduring things, it means you endure with someone who personally attacks or persecutes you. To endure all things means to bear up under persecution, that you can sustain to the end, with unshaken confidence in the love of Christ.

Love can endure persecution and adversity for the gospel's sake because love is superior to every other thing, including all power of earth and hell. Charity Himself (Jesus) was tested by all things. He went through hell and death for our sake and yet remains unchanged. That is the same love we have received in Christ.

Men were hostile to Jesus, but he was healing the same people who were hostile to Him. He was molested and cruelly treated without being accused of anything. Instead, He responded in love by praying for them and ultimately completing the work of redemption for all men, including those who crucified Him.

When the Holy Spirit immerses us in the love of Christ, censures, slanders, and threats won't be able to daunt the heroic spirit of love. Nor can losses, exile, prisons, or scourges wear out the energy of love. Beloved, we have a heroic spirit of love.

Let us see another man in scripture who had a similar experience:

2 Corinthians 11:23-27 (NIV):
 "Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, and I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers."

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (NKJV):
"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

I would love for us to patiently read the two scriptures above that reveal the attacks and assaults Apostle Paul faced for the gospel’s sake. However, in all of those unimaginable sufferings, he called them light affliction. What a man! What perspective!

Beloved, love is big! The tenacity of love and its tensile strength are infinite! Love always sees His Master and originator, Christ. Beloved, if Jesus paid the ultimate price, we must strive under His leadership to preserve this faith. That is what it means to endure. Paul and the apostles were not suffering for anything else apart from faith in the gospel. They were so engrossed in the love of Christ that they were ready to pass through anything to preserve this faith. They had a revelation of what Jesus sacrificed to redeem us, and so they traded everything to embrace this love.

The love of God needs to be so real to us that in the intensity of rejection and personal attack, we don't quit walking in love. Instead, it pushes us to walk more in the love way. We must be ready to trade everything to preserve the gospel truth.

We need to know that there is so much perversion in the world. And when our minds are made up to line up with Christ, men will rise against us. Let me share my example.

There was a time when my hostel mate wanted to do a hostel party where I was staying. At this kind of party, they would buy alcohol, do drugs, bring worldly DJs, and engage in many elvish acts. So they asked every occupant of the house to contribute to the party. But the love of God was so real to me that I told them I would not be a party to it. Yes, I already knew there would be rejection and misbehavior towards me. But glory to Jesus, I was ready to preserve the gospel truth. I was prepared to exempt myself from the entire setup to line up with Christ. Someone told me to just contribute my quota but not attend so that my hostel mates wouldn't go against me. That is how the devil deceives us into doing everything so that people can accept us.

Well, if you reject me, it does not bless me. I am not looking for rejection all around. But if it is to trade the truth in God's word with something else, I’d rather choose to be rejected. Beloved, what we have all around us is ‘convenience Christianity.’ That is not the Christianity that the apostles passed down to us. Someone said, “If you don't bend to the world’s standards, you cannot convert them.” That is not true! Do you know how many converts Paul, Peter, and the rest of the apostles had during their time? Did they bend to the traditions of the world? No, they remained glued to the Spirit of God. I am not saying we should not interact with people who have not received the life of Christ. Of course, we must. Jesus did, so we must. But our motivation for the interaction must be to shine the light of the gospel—to show men how things are to be done in the kingdom's way. That would give rise to lasting change and transformation in a strayed society.

I will have to stop here. But I leave you with this: There is a cost to being a disciple of Christ. It will cost you to trade all the mundane things to receive the eternal joy and glory right now in your heart.

Beloved, prayerfully meditate on these things.

Written by Peter Ayoola Fakeye