Power

to Change

A Four-Week
Homily Series
Preparing for
Pentecost

Week 1 - The First Fruit of the Spirit is Love

I Wish I Was More Loving

Sunday
God, through his Holy Spirit, wants to grow the fruit of loving others in us. There are three things he needs to
do to accomplish that. The first thing is convincing us how loved we are by God. We struggle to love others
when dont know how beloved we are. So the Holy Spirit pours out Gods love into our hearts to convince us
of the truth of how deeply loved we are by God:
The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
(Romans 5:5)
Did you know that? Did you know that God has been pouring out his love into your heart every day since the
day of your baptism when he filled you with the Holy Spirit? This is not our work, but the work of God. It is
supernatural. It is not in our power. It is not the product of mere circumstances. Its not owing to good works,
good luck or a good family of origin. It is owing to the Holy Spirit. You dont make it happen. The Holy Spirit
makes it happen. Its his work. And its true: the love of God has been poured out into your heart through the
Holy Spirit.
Action: Spend several minutes today praying and repeating the verse above so that it begins to stick in your
mind and heart. Ask the Holy Spirit to convince you that it is true. If it helps, picture the truth of this verse
pushing out the lie that youre not fully, completely and abundantly loved by God.

Monday

You might be doubting it, so here are a few more verses that tell us how much God loves us:
God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
Jesus said, As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you." (John 15:9)
Because you are precious in my eyes and honored, and I love you Fear not, for I am with you. (Isaiah
43:4-5)
Action: Spend a several minutes today slowly praying over these verses in your mind and heart and asking the
Holy Spirit to let the truth of Gods love for you soak in more deeply.

Tuesday

The second thing the Holy Spirit needs to do in us to grow the fruit of love is move us from loving as a feeling
to loving as an action. Most of us assume that love is a feeling and that loving others means having warm fuzzy
feelings for them. So when we say, I wish I was more loving toward that person, what we usually mean is,
I wish I had nicer feelings about that person We need the Holy Spirit to press this truth into our hearts and
minds: love is first and foremost an action not a feeling. Feelings may accompany it, they may not. But since
love is an action, Jesus can command it:

I give you a new commandment: love one another. (John 13:34)

Think about it: Jesus would never command you to have a feeling for someone. Our feelings are often out of
our full control. But he can command an action, since we have control over our actions. In other words, love is
something we can choose to do. Even if we dont feel it. Jesus knows this think about how he loved us on the
Cross: no warm fuzzies there, but a love greater than anything in the universe.
Action: Spend several minutes asking the Holy Spirit to give you this power: Help me to choose to love even
when I dont feel it. Heres St. Johns version of that prayer:
Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth (1 John 3: 18)

Wednesday

Love is a choice and a matter of conduct. This leads to an earth-shattering revelation: It is possible to love
someone you do not even like. Jesus knew this. Thats why he told us:
Love your enemies and do good to them. (Luke 6:35)
Notice again that he is commanding an action - do good - and not a feeling.
Action: Spend several minutes today praying over this verse from Jesus and ask the Holy Spirit to let this earthshattering truth sink into your heart and mind: It is possible for me to love someone I do not even like.

Thursday

The third thing the Holy Spirit needs to do to grow the fruit of love in us is help us to see others as God sees
them.
God does not view things the way men do. People look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at
the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7)
When we know other peoples hurts, problems and burdens its easier to love them, because we dont take
their lack of love toward us personally. God wants to give us the power to do this through the Holy Spirit. So
St. Paul could say:
Dont just think about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and in what they are doing. Your
attitude should be the kind that was shown us by Jesus Christ (Philippians 2: 4-5 Living Bible translation).
Action: Apply this to your immediate family members first. Spend several minutes today asking the Holy Spirit
to fill you so that you can look beyond the faults of your spouse, parents, kids and siblings and see their real
needs, the way the Lord sees them. That becomes our motivation to love them even when the feelings arent
there.

Friday

Action: Pray through the same Scripture verses as Friday but today apply them to the people outside your
family that are most difficult to love: your co-workers, classmates at school, teammates on your sports team,
neighbors, etc. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you know the needs and burdens of their hearts so that you are
moved to make the choice to love them even and especially when the feelings arent there.

Saturday

Action: Do the same thing as yesterday, only apply it to those who arent the same as you - whether it be in
physical appearance, disposition (happy or sad), financial stability/economic level, etc., or even the driver who
drives differently (slower, faster) than you. When we dont know what is going on in someones heart and only
see them from the outside we usually fill in the blanks and presume facts about them. And were usually
wrong. This makes it impossible to love them. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you not to fill in the blanks about
others but to presume the best so that you are disposed to loving them even and especially when the feelings
arent there.