John 15:1-17
Jesus Makes our Joy Complete
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
In reading the gospels you will learn many things...
If you read the gospels with a biased attitude you will come away not recognizing the Truth...If you read the gospels with a prejudiced attitude you will not comprehend the love of the Good News and sense His Divineness...You will judge others, without looking at your own faults...
But when reading the gospels with faith, you will believe in the Father and Son...And when you read the gospel with hope you will see One Who is Divine...When you read the gospel with forgiveness you will learn to love and see others and even those who you do not agree with in a different light, the Light...Read the gospels with mercy and you will see that God desires mercy and not sacrifices...When you read the gospel with hope, you will believe that there can be eternal life...
God is LOVE...So when you read the gospel with love, you will feel a peaceful, easy, kind, hopeful, forgiving feeling...You will see that the Great Virtues are Love, Hope, and Faith...Reading the gospel with love will Complete your Joy...
The more you read the gospels, the more you see that God and His Son are full of Grace and Truth...
When you read the gospels without any bias or prejudice or preset notions, you can believe that the Two Greatest Commandments are to Love God and to Love neighbor...And you will learn that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that no one gets to the Father, except through Him...We will learn the command: Love each other...
You may have heard that and even believe that you should love your neighbor and hate your enemy and those who don't believe and look like you...But reading the gospels from a loving attitude makes you think about loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you...Because in the end we all want to be children of our Father in Heaven...He is the Source of the sun and causes it to rise in the morning and allows it to break the early morning darkness on both the evil and the good...He is the One Who sends rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous...Reading it with love will fill our heart and and help us love one another and will make our Joy Complete...
If we don't read the gospels at all, we will not learn or feel these things or much of anything...