Bearing Fruit 4

1 John 2:5-6

Our teen-age daughter has experienced the hypocrisy some people exhibit in their faith life, a situation many adults have had to cope with. In a car ride the other day she made comments about people she calls “Super Christians.” She says these people are big on displaying their faith by carrying Bibles, quoting Scripture, and being very demonstrative in their prayers.

The problem is that she can recognize that these people don’t always live out their faith. In spite of their appearance of being good they speak poorly of others, they gossip, they lie and cheat. Others, who are less showy in their faith, exhibit their holiness in their actions, by caring about others, by being kind, by sacrificing of what they have.

In this first letter from John we have a description of what a real Christian might look like. How is God’s love made complete? How can we recognize someone who lives in Christ?

If we examine ourselves and the fruit that we bear we can see that we should be bearing fruit that is a reflection of God. Our fruit – the things that we accomplish, the things that we do – should be an expression of God’s love. Our fruit should be an obedience of what God has commanded – love your neighbor, care for the less fortunate. When we are able to do these things then God’s love is being lived out in us and it becomes complete, flowing from God to us and from us to others.

We can call ourselves “Christians.” We can claim that Jesus is living in our hearts. But for God’s love to truly be in us, for the Spirit of Christ to dwell in our hearts, we must walk as Jesus walked. We must offer care and forgiveness to those around us. We must seek out what is best and beneficial for others, and be willing to sacrifice ourselves for those in need.

If we will bear good fruit for God we must live as Jesus did. We must love, forgive, care and teach, and do all of this with a pure heart and humble attitude.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How will you walk as Jesus did today?

Investment 1

1 John 2:5-6

There is an old saying that we often quote – “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it must be a duck.” It is a simple and true statement. We recognize what things are and who people are by the way they behave. The same can be said of people who believe in God.

The Book of 1 John is a book about living out faith. In the second chapter John talks about investing ourselves in our belief in Jesus. How is God’s love made complete in us? How are we to “walk?”

There are so many religious terms that believers can throw around without really understanding what they mean. One of them is the expression that we must walk like Jesus. What does that mean?

Like the expression about a duck the same can be true of us. If we are going to be Christians, if we are going to be the children of God, then we must walk like Jesus did. And that has nothing to do with putting one foot in front of the other or the way we carry our body.

To walk as Jesus walked means we must invest ourselves in our faith. It means we must try to live out the love of God in the same way Jesus did. It means that we must be humble and peaceful, and tolerant of others.

To live out the love of God by walking as Jesus did means to love God as deeply and passionately as Jesus did. God must be first in our thoughts, and obeying the commands of God must be the most important thing in our hearts and minds.

It also means that we must care for all human beings in the same way Jesus did. Jesus desired that every person have a life of comfort and spiritual security. He desired that people should be free from the guilt of sin and the erroneous way of holding onto worldly attitudes – desiring the temporary pleasures that earthly things can bring.

If we will walk as Jesus did then we must concern ourselves with the well-being of those around us – friends, family and strangers alike. We must stand for justice and fairness. And we must also value the sharing of love and compassion more than the temporary comforts and advantages that earthly life can tempt us with.

DAILY CHALLENGE: What must you do to walk more like Jesus?