Spiritual Growth is from Heart to Mind to Heart (Part 3)

Spiritual Growth is from Heart to Mind to Heart (Part 3)

Paul's 9-church epistles, Romans to 2-Thessalonians, is a curriculum of spiritual growth and transformation for the grace believer. By studying the doctrine progressively, and in the appointed order as presented in our King James bible, it takes one from being a babe in Christ to an adopted and mature son of God, from being carnal, yielding to the flesh, to being spiritual, yielding to the Spirit of life, and from being ignorant of God to having knowledge and wisdom in spiritual things. In addition, there is one more thing the curriculum does when it starts to take effect in one's life. It slowly changes the heart. It starts with a work of faith, renewing the mind to trust in God and trust in the doctrine, but as a believer grows in faith, the curriculum starts to work a labour of love. 

What the labour of love is not!

Well, simply put, it is not your own good works. It is not even your love. It is a work of God that comes into operation as you become less, and the Word of God starts to take preeminence. So, forget about earning favour and credits by helping the elderly across the street (for example). The labour of love is not something you do by your own reasoning mind and good will. Doesn't Isaiah bluntly say, 

"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Isaiah 64:6. 

I'm not saying that kind acts are fruitless, but I am saying that they are not the definition of the 'labour of love' which we are dealing with in this post.

What is the labour of love?

In 1Thess.1:3 Paul says the following,

"Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;"

The labour of love follows after the work of faith! (Read part 2 for the work of faith). You cannot experience the labour of love without first being exposed in greater part to the work of faith. The work of faith is equated to planting and watering the seed and even tending to the initial growing of that plant. The labour of love equates to the resulting plant bearing fruit. Does that ring a bell? —The fruit of the Spirit, with love as the first fruit. There is no way that we can get to bearing the fruit of love without having had the work of faith, 'the faith', doing a work in our minds, renewing our minds, our thoughts, our behaviours, strengthening our faith, and teaching us the value of sound doctrine. The labour of love comes from this work of faith. It comes naturally and unforced as we progress through our curriculum.

Let's delve deeper.

The labour of love is the working of the word of God (our doctrine) in one's heart to the extent that one, through obedience to it, starts to exude or emanate the character of Christ. Paul puts it this way,

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." Galatians 2:20-21

"I live; yet not I, but Christ in me". Doesn't that indicate that we become less. It does take time, but this is what the work of faith ought to do. The more our minds and thoughts are orientated to the word of God, studying our doctrine, allowing it to take root in us and influence us, the more we will be dying to our own will and judgements and aligning with the will and judgements in the word, which is Christ, which is the Spirit of life (in Christ Jesus, Romans 8:2).

Let me drill it in even further,

"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:11

"But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." Romans 7:6

You cannot get through the first few letters in our curriculum without the work of faith being drilled into you. The rest of the curriculum is reliant on this very work taking place in you. Did you notice how ALL these verses that prepare us for that labour of love are found in the first few epistles of our curriculum and specifically deal with "the work of faith". Romans to Galatians is the part of our curriculum that instills in us this work of faith. We need to study and understand and apply the principles in these letters to prepare for and qualify for the labour of love. How wise is our Father God!

Conclusion

The labour of love is the evidence of God's Word truly taking hold in a believer’s heart—it is not a product of human effort but the natural outflow of Christ living through us. As we mature in faith through our doctrine working within us, the love of God begins to manifest in our lives, compelling us to serve and edify the Body of Christ, not through our own efforts but through an inner love, a sincerity and humility that has taken root within us through the work of faith. This love is far more than personal acts of kindness; it is a deeper work of God that transforms our heart, shaping our thoughts, actions, and service into a reflection of His will.

This is the ultimate purpose of spiritual growth—the transition from learning sound doctrine to living it out in a way that ministers to others. The labour of love is not something we strive to achieve; it is the undeniable fruit of God's Word working in us. As we yield to His words of truth and allow it to renew our minds, this love begins to flow naturally, impacting the Body of Christ and reaching into the world as a testimony of God's transformative power. Let us, therefore, move toward this maturity, allowing doctrine to shape us so that the love of Christ may be seen in us—not as forced works, but as a pure and effortless labour of love.

Col 3:16-17  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.  [17]  And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.