John 15:5-11

⁵ “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. ⁷ But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!⁸ When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. ⁹ “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. ¹⁰ When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!

Today as we continue in our 30-day series, “Cultivating Christ like Character” we come to the fruit of joy. For many of us joy just like love appears sporadically in our lives, like the morning mist that lingers for a moment but dissipates as soon as it is touched by the scorching Sun. Why do so few Christians live joyful lives? I believe it’s because we are trying to substitute the joy of Jesus for that which the world offers. God’s desire has always been for His children to experience great joy in this life, that is why He sent His Son Jesus to die for us, so that we could live the full and overflowing life that Jesus spoke of in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Many of us say that we want what He offers, yet God and man have differing ideas about how this is going to be accomplished. Joy is what the human heart really hungers for but rather than satisfying that hunger with God’s gift of joy, humanity by and large has chosen to chase happiness. It’s about what we can experience and get out of the deal. It’s a John 6 kind of religion, where our motive for following Jesus is food to make us feel good. We are happy as long as our bellies are being filled, but forsaken Him at the first hint of hardship. Today we have become derailed by what I call the doctrine of deserving, where we are taught that we deserve to be happy. A permeating philosophy that’s not just contaminating the culture but controlling the church, and because what we believe effects how we behave this deserving belief bleeds over into demanding behavior. As a result, many of us are chasing the American dream, the pursuit of happiness instead of the Almighty’s. The pursuit of this idealistic happiness consumes most of our lives, striving for something better. But what exactly is happiness? Each individual would describe this differently, and so, for decades the specifics of the American Dream keep changing and evolving until finally it’s defined by material possessions such as houses and cars and college degrees. So, stuff has become our measurement for success. We have stuffed our homes full of things and yet our hearts are empty because stuff never satisfies. We have become a society of storage units overflowing with stuff yet never satisfied. A society of stuff but no substance. A culture that has seen an increase in both consuming and depression, because the more we have the more dissatisfied we have become. What is interesting is that the word happy comes from the root word “hap” which literally means chance. This is the root of several other words, happen, hapless, and even haphazard.  Happiness depends upon what happens to you, based on chance and circumstance. But Christianity is not about circumstantial happiness that comes from chasing chance it’s about change that comes from chasing Christ. God’s Joy will always bring happiness, but the pursuit of happiness will not always bring joy. Because happiness is an emotion that is caused by our circumstances, happiness is reliant upon some situation or event to make us feel good. If something good happens we’ll feel good but if something bad happens we won’t. In contrast God’s Joy does not depend upon our current circumstances and can even transcend trials and tribulations. We are called to be followers of Christ not feelers of comfort that is why the Bible mentions “joy” or “rejoicing” 330 times, but only mentions “happiness” 26 times. God doesn’t want us emotionally chained to our circumstances He wants us to be free in Christ. Our problem is not only tied to our perspective but our position. There is a powerful story told about a house that architect Frank Lloyd Wright built for industrialist Hibbard Johnson in 1937. One rainy evening Johnson was entertaining distinguished guests for dinner when the roof began to leak. The water seeped through directly above Johnson himself, dripping steadily onto his bald head. Irate, he called Wright in Phoenix, Arizona. “Frank,” he said, “you built this beautiful house for me and we enjoy it very much. But … the roof leaks, and right now I am with some friends and distinguished guests and it is leaking right on top of my head.” There was a pause on the line, and Frank Lloyd Wright reportedly replied: “Well, Hib, why don’t you move your chair?” The problem is that some of us have positioned our chair under the wrong roof. Johnson’s roof was fine as long as it didn’t rain, He was happy until the storm showed up and the rain revealed a leak. We don’t like the storms but they reveal the roof that we are living under. Whether it is shingled with manmade happiness or Jesus shingles of joy that are impervious to the hard hail of this life. Most of us crave happiness and comfort but they never cultivate character, instead they often corrode our character. Joy on the other hand not only shapes our character but has the power to influence and change those around us. So, what about you, are you letting Christ cultivate your character so that your journey is one of joy, or are you chasing after circumstantial happiness?

1 Corinthians 13:1-8

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

Paul doesn’t just paint a positive picture of love and what we need to put on but he is also very clear about what:

• Practices to Put off:

1. Does not envy – Paul makes it clear that selfish jealousy is at odds with the Lord’s love. True love is not jealous of what others have or have become. The Greek word that is translated “envy” here means “to burn with zeal.” It’s the picture of being heated to the point that we boil over with envy, hatred, or anger. In the context of 1 Corinthians 13, we see that love does not focus on personal desires. It is not eager to increase possessions, the goal is not getting, its giving glory to God. Real love focuses on people not possessions. It’s what Jesus modeled in His ministry and why he spent so much time loving the poor. God’s love is selfless, not selfish, but in contrast to Christ’s command the Corinthian believers were ranking some spiritual gifts as more important than others and envying those who had the those gifts. So, in chapter 12 Paul points out that the different gifts are meant to serve one another and build up the church. True love calls us to see God’s gifts through the lens of serving others not trying to serve self. While love celebrates when others are blessed envy complains. Where love brings life, envy brings death and decay. As Proverbs 14:30 states “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” Love does not seek to benefit itself and it is content with what it has.

2. Does not parade itself – The Greek word translated here as boast means to brag and point to self. The reason that love does not boast is because love focuses on the one being loved, not on oneself. A braggart is full of themselves and is so busy magnifying themselves that they don’t have time to minister to others. But love turns the perspective outward focusing on the needs of others, without thought of repayment or recognition. Paul had many opportunities to boast, but instead he sacrificially served others. When it came to the Corinthian Christians he served them without a salary, and instead of boasting about his sacrifice, he wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:16, “If I preach the gospel that gives me no ground for boasting.” Are you going to put your energy into loving others or trying to look good? Because you can’t focus on self and serve at the same time.

3. Is not puffed up with Pride – Real love is not swelled up with a sense of self-importance and elated with a vain conceit of itself. Jesus Christ is the perfect example of selfless love. In Philippians 2:6-8 it says, “though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. ⁷ Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, ⁸ he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” Jesus did not focus on Himself. Instead, He became a servant and in humility died to save us.

4. Does not behave rudely – This is behaving in an ugly, indecent, unseemly or unbecoming manner. Christian love involves choosing appropriate actions and responses that bless others instead of belittling them. Sadly rudeness has become common place in our current culture. Public behavior and words that were unthinkable a generation ago are now commonplace. It’s what essayist Merrill Markoe in the Wall Street Journalcalls a “renaissance of rudeness.” Manners are not just rules they reveal the heart. But as our society has made it more and more about self, manners have been replaced with me. Rudeness is rooted in selfishness, but love is concerned for the well-being of others.

5. Does not seek its own – God’s love does not seek its own happiness at the expense and injury of others. The corrective to self-seeking is God-seeking. The remedy for selfishness is love. Jesus said in Mark 12:30-31, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second commandment is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Loving God and others is the true mark of a believer, not a love for self. As 1 Corinthians 10:24 says, “Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.”

6. Is not provoked – Love does not fly into a rage, but keeps the temper under control. Being hot headed usually involves making snap judgments, seeking instant vindication, and refusing to grant second chances. However, true love refuses to jump to conclusions, take revenge, or hastily judge anyone. The fact that love is “not easily angered” reflects God’s patient love for the world described in 2 Peter 3:9, “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

7. Thinks no evil – Love chooses to put the best possible construction on the motives and the conduct of others. Love is not disposed to finding fault, or to impute improper motives to others. Love is not a record keeper of wrongs but rather a keeper of rights.

8. Does not rejoice in iniquity – Love does not rejoice over the “vices” of other people; it does not take delight when they are guilty and fall into sin. Some of us secretly relish the thought of those who have wronged us coming to harmed. But love does not seek revenge it seeks what is right. Not only does Paul reveal the power, priority and picture of love but lastly he reminds us of the:

4. Perseverance of Love – Vs 7-8

Love lasts, Paul reminds us that love never fails. There are a lot of things in this life that falter and fail but not love because love lives on. Even after this body dies and decays the legacy of love that we leave will live on in the people we have loved and they will pass it on to those that they touch. What about you, what are you going to leave when this life is over? Will it be a life of love? Love is intentional it looks for those who need loved and graciously gives God’s love. So, what picture are you painting with the way you are living your life, is it a picture of service or selfishness? Are you living to love self or loving to serve others?