Taping Fruit onto a Tree

"Pursue Love..."¹

Trying to be loving doesn't work!

We are taught that to be a good Christian we must act like Christ but when we try we find it difficult indeed! I am never so angry, selfish, and miserable as when I try to not get mad, put others first, and be happy.

Dallas Willard tells of a different approach. Referring to the Beatitudes and 1^st Corinthians 13, the Bible's "Love" chapter, he wrote:

People... are taught to read it, as telling them to be patient, kind, free of jealousy, and so on...But Paul is plainly saying -- look at his words -- that it is love that does these things, not us, and that what we are to do is to "pursue love" (1 Cor. 14:1). As we "catch" love, we then find that these things are after all actually being done by us."²

Trying to not get angry, to put others first, or to be happy is like trying to produce fruit by taping it onto a tree. Fruit is produced by making sure the tree the kind wanted and that it is healthy - good fruit is the byproduct.

As we pursue Love, Himself³, our nature changes and we act accordingly.

- fritz

^{1 - 1st Corinthians 14:1a (New King James)
2 - The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard, published by HarperCollins, copyright 1998, pg.187
3 - 1st John 4:16}