Known by Its Fruit

Christians, and people in general, are known for what they produce in life. If a person produces contempt and hatred from others, this is what that individual will be known for. In this thought, love is also known by its fruit. One may think they understand love in the eternal sense, but we really only - at least in this world - grasp the concept of erotic love (a term from Soren Kierkegaard). Erotic love is that which the poets explain - friendship and having a beloved (someone that is your everything). However, the Bible says "you shall love your neighbor as yourself." In this, it states that we "shall" love. It is a duty to love your neighbor, or everyone. The only one we should love with all of our heart, soul, mind, and body is God. If this is the case, to show favoritism - a friend or a "love"- is not at all what Love is about. Let me explain.

If someone was drowning, say it was a friend, and you saved this person based on the fact that it was a friend, you would be showing favoritism and not love to everyone. So, if you would not risk your life for someone else but you would a "friend" this isn't love, it is a poetic concept that we feel we need.

In order to love everyone as ourselves, we must love ourselves in the right way. We must not harm ourselves on purpose, we must not do something to ourselves that we would not want someone else to do to us. Then, when we love ourselves the right way and when we care more about others than ourselves, we love others rightly. To love others we must:

Never give up on them,

Care more for them than ourselves,

Not envy

Not strut,

Not have a swelled head,

Not force itself on others,

Isn't "Me first,"

Doesn't fly off the handle,

Keep score of the sins of others,

Doesn't revel when others grovel,

It takes pleasure in the truth,

Puts up with anything,

Trusts God always,

Always looks for the best,

Never looks back,

Never ends.