The Fruit of the Spirit – Love as Christ Loves Us
Pastor Tan Thai · Feb 7, 2016
This sermon explores the agape love of Jesus Christ as demonstrated in His washing of the disciples' feet (John 13:1-15), emphasizing that true love is a single fruit of the Spirit with many inseparable qualities. The pastor calls the congregation to love as Christ loves — by humbling oneself, accepting the imperfections of others, and continually remembering what God has done for us in Christ.
The sermon opens with the widely searched question "what is love?", surveying popular Vietnamese internet definitions before distinguishing three types of love — "if" love, "because" love, and "in spite of" love. The pastor focuses on agape, God's unconditional love, as demonstrated in Romans 5:8 and John 13, arguing that this love is not driven by emotion but by deliberate choice and concrete action.
The first point is that the fruit of the Spirit is one fruit with many qualities. Drawing from Galatians 5:22-23 and 1 Corinthians 13, the pastor emphasizes that the word "fruit" is singular in the Greek — not nine separate fruits but one fruit with many flavors. True love cannot be separated from patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and faithfulness. Vivid illustrations from marriage life show that a deficiency in any one quality weakens the whole expression of love.
The second point is that love requires humility — stooping down to wash feet. Through John 13:1-15, the pastor reminds the congregation that Jesus washed the feet of Judas, Peter, and all ten disciples who would abandon Him. Dirty feet represent the imperfection found in every person. True love does not demand that others be clean before receiving love; rather, it patiently accepts and helps the other person change over time.
The third point is that love requires remembering what Christ has done for us. The pastor shares a deeply personal memory of his mother weeping as he left home to flee Vietnam, and of 28 years of shared sacrifice with his wife — illustrations showing that love is sustained by the memory of sacrifice. Likewise, Christians are motivated to love others because they continually remember that Jesus Christ washed feet and died for them (2 Corinthians 5:14).
The sermon closes with the story of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, in which Jean Valjean is transformed not by law but by the grace of a bishop. This illustrates the grace of God — He has washed the feet of imperfect people and will love them to the end. The congregation is called to examine their own feet before judging others, and to live out agape love that flows from obedience to the Holy Spirit, as assured in Romans 8:38-39.