1st post of the New Year, and I knew that God would speak a word that was nothing short of monumental. The Holy Spirit doesn’t need a long speech to reach a point, it’s the few words that always hit the deepest.
“Love till it hurts like Jesus.” Those were the words that God used to break (or expose a few roots that have been planted) that grew into something that I struggled with for a while now. Just five words. You know I say that I am transparent, and for the most part, I try to be. But reality is your girl strugglesssssss! Not with just loving certain people like Jesus DOES (as in a present action) but things I have yet to share with you or anyone. One day I will, because the wisdom I obtain from those trials is beyond a price. But for now, I will go with this nugget of wisdom that I’m sure is going to carry me well through this next year.
Let me first shine the light on those roots that get planted. Roots can’t grow without seeds. Seeds can’t be planted without someone or something planting them. And seeds and roots can’t grow without being watered. So, how does that all tie in with loving like Jesus? Well, let me get deep with you really quick. Just because you can’t see a crack in your armor, doesn’t mean there isn’t one there. And if we don’t discipline ourselves into striving (notice I didn’t say achieving) but striving to be like Jesus, forgiving like Jesus, sacrificing like Jesus, walking like Jesus and yes, loving as Him, then what are we doing? Is His spirit not the fruit we are called to produce? Is He not the example we were given to replicate?
Without His Holy Spirit we are all like corrupted ball of weeds, infecting the harvest around us. Like some spiritual variant of the corona virus. Just attacking the weaker things and destroying them. God has allowed us this responsibility of tending His field by allowing us to give out seeds, plant seeds and in some cases, water them. Some seeds may look similar to the others from the outside, but its what the seed is made up the inside that determines whether it is a weed or a fruit when it grows. By then the work it takes to uproot weeds is far more work than deciding not to sow it in the first place. And just so we are on the same page here, the Bible is clear that we will in fact reap what we sow. Good or bad. And if you think about this spiritually, when we grab seeds that have already been established (like from a tree, plant or anything that is producing) you will grow what it produces. Then you could find yourself where I have been for a few months now. Infested with a harvest of spiritual weeds.
I said all that to say this, hate is a seed. Just like gossip, lust, manipulation, division, sin and everything else the Bible speaks against. They are all tiny little seeds. Waiting for the right soil. I allowed myself to plant a seed of resentment, pride and anger that only produced weeds. So, all I’d give out was the only seeds I was producing. And right now, I’m choosing to set a holy fire to that field. Because I never want to be someone who produces that kind of harvest. I want to be someone who produces good fruit. And for those of you who only plant what they are given, make sure you worked the field long enough to know what you are getting. Just because its what you are given, doesn’t mean you have to produce it.
“No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” John 15:4-6
Cynthia M. Benavides 