The Strong Life is Life-Giving.
Unless on active duty in the armed forces, or deployed to serve and protect in other capacities, rarely are we called upon, during the course of our daily existence, to fulfill the ultimate act of the “no greater love” ideal: sacrificing our physical life for another. But we are called  to lay down our lives in other ways, in order to perpetuate life – to be, by an act of our will, life givers each day.

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life” Deut. 30:19 

Well that’s sobering. This notion of giving ourselves to others their benefit has great appeal to those with a servant’s heart, whether gifted or cultivated; whether via high-profile comitments like serving in formal ministry;, enlisting in the military, or practicing medicine for example; or whether in quiet “unseen,” unheralded ways. Still, we should be careful not to over-romanticize the call.  Perhaps before we can be life-givers in earnest, we must be life choosers.  What does the Father intend when He admonishes us to make life choices throughout the routine of our days, as the seasons of our lives ebb and flow? It may not a bad idea for us to explore His intentions since the options presented are fairly limited – life or death …

For some of us the answer’s obvious. We can’t have true life without the source of life, Jesus the life-giver “I am the way the truth, and the life.” John 14:6
We have life because we’ve chosen the life giver, The High Priest and only conduit to the Father, who himself lives within us – we’re golden!

But can we truly have life – in Christ, without producing, replicating? We’re all called to be life producers since its certainly its less about reproducing human life and more about reproducing the life of Christ.

The Strong Life is a Planted Life
“ He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.” Psalm1:3

A life planted in good soil, hydrated and nurtured by “the rivers of water,” is one most likely to bare good, life-sustaining fruit.  Again, what kind of life, fruit, self are we cultivating anyway? Do we truly want our life to be a seed planted by the river or life, so that it matures to produce the fruit He expects – when He expects it? Consider the plight of the poor fig tree …

“The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. ¹³ Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.” Mark 11:12

Lawless Spirit Fruit
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

The Life-giving self bares fruit of The Spirit. It is this fruit that satiates Jesus’ hunger, both in season and out of season. When he draws near, we want to be found baring fruit; nutrient-dense fruit that can fortify those starving for hope, starving for Him. Spirit fruit, cultivated by the Life-giver is sacred, structural, and supernatural. It establishes the framework and mechanism for a life that will endow other lives with power, energy, the will to remain, to withstand hardship, and to produce more good fruit.

Fruit of the Tongue
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21

As the Redeemed we must use our powers for good. The Creator exercises His authority and his agency via the spoken word. He has given us agency via the tongue. We’d want to guard our tongue – not wielding it about willy-nilly. We might also want to follow Jesus’ example in John, such that the words we speak become more and more, life-giving.

^“ It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63