being, doing in love
First, thank you so much for being here and engaging with the Beatitudes study. I thank God for your obedience and fellowship. He is so intentional, and this is one of the ways I choose to worship Him for that intentionality. Sharing these studies is a way for me to share my worship, and I praise God whenever someone joyfully joins in with me. I’ve said it once, and I will say it again: He’s intentional. It’s by no mistake or mere coincidence you are here. God has something for you, and I’m praying it’s well-received and accepted wholly.
Now, the meat of this post — before we begin the latter half of the Beatitudes, I found it imperative to share a word with you all.
The first four Beatitudes are about the state of being every Believer lives in. Believers have a consciousness of their need for God and their need to live in closeness with Him. The desires of our hearts lead us to our heavenly Father. We know that we also live by the Word of God. By His Word our needs are met, we receive great comfort, we obtain a great inheritance, and are fed and nourished always. We seek His Word because we desire a relationship with Him.
The latter half of the Beatitudes are what the Believer does as a result of the previous four. We cannot give mercy, make peace, devote ourselves to the Lord, and live through persecution without being poor in spirit, mournful, humble, and needy. To bear fruit [action] we must abide [exist/be] in the True Vine. In order to do the work, we must first be a part of the One who calls us to do it.
Today, I was led to study love. In Hosea 6:6, our heavenly Father expresses His greatest desire for us: to show love and to know Him. To know God is to know love because He is love. We encounter His love for His creation throughout scripture, and we can find a definition and description of love in 1 Corinthians 13. Love is a spirit, a state of being, that is the root of our actions. When we read that chapter of scripture and replace “love” and every “it” pronoun with God, we are able to get a glimpse of who He is. It’s an opening to the story of His love for each and every one of us.
You know that cliche “do everything with love?” Well, let’s reframe it to “do everything from love.” As Paul begins this chapter, he actually shares that whenever we act without love, our actions are done in vain. Why? Because love is the root that bears good fruit. Our root must be in the love of God, the very Spirit that created everything we see and said it is good.
The greatest commandment is this: Love God and love others as you love yourself.
Each of the Beatitudes of being focuses on our roots. Believers understand that our relationship with God is the most important part of our being because He made us. He knows us and loves us, and to know Him and love Him is to know others and love them. We seek His Will/Word/Truth because He is the source of all that will sustain us and carry us through life. When our roots rest in His love, we are able to bear fruit from a root system nurtured and nourished by love.
Our actions, the next four Beatitudes of doing, are the fruit of those roots. Our ability to give and show mercy, devote ourselves to God, make peace, and keep courage in persecution comes from the Root — the True Vine. We are able to show love because we know God.
In Ephesians 3:18-19, Paul prays that we would be able to understand the breadth, depth, width, and height of God’s love, and that we would experience it in Christ although it is too great to understand fully. The wonderful thing is that knowing God isn’t a destination, it’s a journey. Just like the way nature grows and continues to grow and do work as its roots spread, this work is lifelong. It continues, it spreads, it becomes — it is a lifelong experience of being transformed, showing love, knowing God, and sharing that with others.
As we reflect on the previous lessons, and read on to the next ones, I pray that love is at the root. I pray that as we continue to learn and know God, that we learn and know ourselves. As we continue to walk with Him, we experience the fullness of His love in every season, a fullness that ignites our love for Him, establishes our love for ourselves, and empowers our love for others.
In Jesus name. Amen.
