What Does Abiding in Christ Look Like?

This I command you – to love one another.  John 15:17

 I’ve been reading a lot about love lately, writing a lot about love lately, talking a lot about love lately, but what is love? Going back to the source of truth, and what should define love for us, I was reminded of the perfect Bible verse to explain this:


But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. [Romans 5:8 NIV]

 How did God model love for us? By dying for us. By sending His Only Son for us. By laying it all down and doing what we needed, beyond what would have been nice, or helpful. So how do we follow in His footsteps? We can’t go around dying for other people every day. Really, we could only do that once, and not in the same way He did, so most of us will not follow this example literally. But what we are told over and over and over in the Bible is that we are to love others. And God’s love is sacrificial. It knows no borders or barriers. It is not stopped by race or religion or gender or culture. God Loves All! And He gave His Son for All.

 I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure that I have that in and of myself. I get mad at people. Like really mad. I hate when people treat my kids wrong. I get upset at leaders that exhibit selfishness and make poor decision that affect the world. In those places, I really don’t feel love. But what I’m learning is that it’s not my love I’m supposed to be showing to the world, but God’s!

 You see, my love is small. It is finite. It has barriers and borders. There’s only so much I can express in a given place or moment. But as I mentioned before, God’s love is so much bigger than that, and it lives in me! I am not here to love the world with my love, but to reflect the love of God to the world. God’s immense, amazing love reached through the mess of my life and touched my heart. I did not deserve it, I can tell you that for sure, so that helps me to see that others do not need to deserve it either in order to experience it. I can reflect the love God showed me when I had not earned it to those around me who are also in places where they have not earned it.

 How do I do this? By exhibiting the Fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control from Galatians 5:22-23) to everyone around me whether my petty, small heart feels like they deserve it or not. How do I show these fruits? Can I just muster up a little kindness? Not well! The Fruit of the Spirit is evident in my life when I am close to God, when I am Abiding in Him. The more time I spend in God’s Word and prayer, the more I talk to Him throughout my day, the more I meditate on the lessons that He is teaching me, the more His fruit is evident in the way I relate to others.

 You’ve probably seen this played out a hundred different ways in your life. You’ve heard the phrase, “Bad company corrupts good character,” but the opposite is also true. You act like what you spend time with. If you hang out with people who cuss like sailors, maybe because they are sailors, you’ll likely end up cussing more than you would have otherwise. If you hang out with people whose hearts are broken for the downtrodden and suffering, your heart will likewise be broken. And if you hang out with God, you’ll be more and more like Him.

Here’s the Thing: We’ve spent the last two months looking at what it means to Abide in Christ. Today, we examined at what it looks like. When we abide in Christ, we love others. Period.

Abiding in Jesus

  1. Week 1: Trusting the Gardener's Work
    1. John 15:1 - Seven Things Jesus Is
    2. John 15:2 - Pinch Those Suckers Out!
    3. Philippians 2:12-13 - Working Out My Salvation
    4. Matthew 5:16 - Stay Salty!
    5. 1 John 1:6 - Walking in Relationship
  2. Week 2: Bearing Lasting Fruit
    1. John 15:3-4 - It Takes Two to Abide
    2. John 15:5 - Grafted In
    3. John 15:6 - The Most Important Post You'll Ever Read
    4. Psalm 1:1-3 - What We Expect to See
    5. Galatians 5:22 - The Fruit of the Spirit's Not a Coconut!
  3. Week 3: Abiding in Jesus Through His Word
    1. John 15:7-8 - Lost in the Wilderness
    2. John 8:31-32 - The Truth Shall Set You Free
    3. Psalm 119:9-11 - Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth
    4. Psalm 119:15-16 - Considering His Ways
    5. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 - How is He Going to Use THAT?!?
  4. Week 4: Abiding in Jesus Through Obedience
    1. John 15:9-10 - Love, Honor and Obey
    2. James 1:22 - The Forgetful Listener
    3. 1 John 3:24 - How Can I Know if I Have the Holy Spirit in Me?
    4. Matthew 7:24-25 - What's Your House Made Of?
    5. John 14:23-24 - Obeying with All My Heart
  5. Week 5: Abiding in Jesus Through Love
    1. John 15:11-12 - Waking Up on the Right Side of the Bed
    2. John 15:13-14 - Laying Down Your Life
    3. 1 John 4:10 - In This is Love
    4. 1 John 4:11-12 - Loving our Enemies
    5. Romans 12:9-13 - Roadmap to Abiding in Christ
  6. Week 6: Chosen and Commissioned by Christ to Bear Fruit
    1. John 15:15 - A Friend that Sticks Closer than a Brother
    2. John 15:16 - Bloom Where You’re Planted
    3. Ephesians 2:10 - Do the Thing in Front of You
    4. Galatians 6:9 - We Must Not Grow Weary in Doing Good
    5. John 15:17 - What Does Abiding in Christ Look Like?

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