Jesus is saying those who truly know Him will bear the fruit or evidence of His love in their lives by actions and not merely words. Yet He is also sternly warning those who merely focus on actions for Him, without a relationship with Him. Jesus is saying the world and our young generations won’t have to ask “Where’s the love?,” if we…

BEAR THE FRUIT OF LOVE, THAT FLOWS FROM A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM

It’s like being married to the most amazing person in the world, like I am. Don’t be jealous. When my wife asks me to take out the trash or to change a dirty diaper, I don’t do it grudgingly, out of a scene of mere obligation, but because I love my wife. I have a lifelong commitment to a relationship with someone I love more than any other human being walk the planet. And out of our love for each other, we operate as a team of equals who have agreed on shared responsibilities that flow out of our purpose in Christ. And this experience is just a window into the closeness of relationship Jesus wants your actions to flow out of.

Jesus said His disciples would be known by their love for one another. Love is the evidence that you truly belong to Jesus. True followers of Jesus are increasingly other-centered, giving and self-sacrificing. This is the evidence that Paul refers to in Galatians 5:22, when he speaks of “the fruit of the Spirit.” By the grace Christ and the power of the in dwelling Holy Spirit, this is the fruit, flowing from a relationship with Jesus, that is to increasingly show up in your actions. You just can’t fake this kind of relationship! People see right through it and so does Jesus. That’s why He will say to those of us just going through the religious motions, “depart from Me…”, because you didn’t really love and know Him, therefore Heaven wouldn’t be a place you’d enjoy.

So here’s what you need to do. Believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ and enter into a daily relationship with Him. Carve out time, first thing in the morning, to spend just being close to Him. Listen to Him speak to your heart through His word. Your reading Scripture through the lens of the Gospel and for listening for His voice to your heart. Talk back to Him through prayer, and in your prayer, ask for the fresh indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This sets you up beautifully for being with Him throughout the day. Pause around the middle of the day and at the end of your day, to be still and meditate on His word to you that morning. Everything in your life and actions will flow out of the over flow of this experience that bears the fruit of love.

Now Jesus concludes this famous sermon on the mount, by giving His listeners the sure result of living this kind of Kingdom life now or not living it.

Jesus said if you hear these teachings of His and do them, you’ll be like a house built on a Rock, that doesn’t fall when the winds of life blow. But if you choose not to follow His teachings and enter into Kingdom life now, then you’ll be like a house built on sand that will surely fall when the storm winds of life blow. This is the kind of life that has the world crying out, right now, “Where’s the Love?” In order for you to keep the world and younger generations from saying, “Where’s the Love?” Jesus needs you to get rid of a judgmental spirit, ask for the Holy Spirit and bear the fruit of love that flows from a relationship with Him. 

So if you want this kind of relationship with Jesus, where He becomes the Rock and sure foundation of your life, unshakable, immovable, then come with me, by faith, to the cross.