"But the fruit of the Spirit is...LOVE"

A few weeks ago, I thought of this idea to write on the "Fruits of the Spirit". But not just write about them or casually mention them, but really dig deeper to learn from these "fruits". And instead of just hearing from me all the time, I wanted to broaden that and include other wives in the ministry. So I made a list of 8 other friends of mine that I asked to be a part of this. My plan is to post one, possibly two, per week. Everyone was randomly assigned a fruit, and I asked each one to tell how God taught them through their particular fruit, and what they have learned in all their years of ministry and service. I love learning from others that have "been there"! My hope and prayer is that you too, will learn from them, and can see the uniqueness in each of these Godly women. They are all "doing" ministry in some capacity in their lives. I tried to get a wide range of wives in ministry...youth minister's wife, college campus minister's wife, well-known Christian writer/speaker, and the others being preaching minister's wives. I really wanted to include a missionary as well, and tried to contact my Aunt Shanthi Bycroft, who serves in Sri Lanka, to be involved in this, but checking their internet is few and far between. So I will be filling one of the spots...sorry, you'll just have to hear from me too!

You all know the first fruit talked about in Galatians 5...LOVE. I am so excited to introduce to you my friend, Shirley Liston, to talk about love today. Before I share what is on her heart, I'd like for you to get to know her a little better.

Name: Shirley Liston
Hometown: Portland, IN. I attended West Walnut Church of Christ from 3rd grade up until I went to college at Cincinnati Bible Seminary.
Married to: Glen Liston
Family: 5 sons, 5 wonderful daughters-in-law, 14 grandchildren...2 of which are married now...and we recently had 2 foster grandbabies added!
Current living: Manvel, TX (south of Houston). We live across the lake from New Hope Church where son, Tim, is minister.
Years of ministry/service: After 50 years of being the senior minister's wife, retirement is great! We enjoy attending New Hope now and are involved and volunteer in various areas.
Hobbies: I enjoy planning programs, playing the piano, singing at a local nursing home, teaching children on Sundays, having a small group in our home weekly, going on mission trips, and playing golf with Glen. When I have time, I love reading Christian novels.

I would like to add that Glen and Shirley used to minister at First Christian Church in Brazil, IN...my hometown. Even though I was still pretty young when God called them to a different ministry, I have good memories of the Liston family. They love people, and were very involved in the lives of others. It was during their time of ministry in Brazil, that I came to know and understand what Jesus did for me. I made the decision to be baptized, and was blessed to have Glen (I can call him by his first name, b/c I'm an adult now! :) baptize me when I was 9 years old. Our families have been friends for years, and I know for me, and the family God has blessed my own life with now, both Glen and Shirley have been a great encouragement to us. So thank you, Glen and Shirley, for showing us what it means to LOVE. And thank you for always being faithful...it is evident that you have not stopped "ministering". Now, words from Shirley.....



"Love.....I was so excited when I learned that the Fruit of the Spirit that I would comment on would be LOVE. There are three different kinds of love used in the Bible: 1) Philos “having affection for”, 2) Eros “a sensual or sexual love, 3) Agape’ a deep and abiding affection of God.

It set me to thinking about my first memory of the word “love.” Earlier we had been in a discussion with family members about what the first or earliest memories of child hood that they have. My earliest memory of the word “love” was when I was almost four years old. We were at church one Sunday morning. A man came running into the church building shouting, “Your church building is on fire!”
Our teacher calmly told us, “Children, pick up your chair and carry it outside because fire loves red chairs!” It’s funny...I don’t remember if the building was badly burned but we kept the red chairs safe from being burned...in spite of the fire loving them and wanting to destroy them.

As I grew up, I learned of another love that was greater than what my Sunday school teacher had spoken of: The love of God that does not want us to be hurt or destroyed by anything or anyone. For me, growing up in a family that was what would be called “dysfunctional” today, the love of God was very important in my life. I felt this love of God in the church where I attended from the teachers, youth sponsors, and the minister’s family. The encouragement and love from these so called “ normal average” Christians made a huge difference in my life. Because of this, I wanted to go on to Bible College and learn more about how I could be used of God to help others.

My husband, Glen, and I met as freshmen at the Seminary. We became friends and even sang in the same Quartet together. The friendship continued and grew into a love that was something that I had never experienced in any of my family relationships...Yes! We were married at the start of our junior year in college and began our part time ministry together in a little church in Southern Indiana, going out on Saturday and Sunday.

Ahhhh...Ministry is a great time to put love into practice! Immediately as I saw the children in the church and began working with them, the love that I had experienced as a child just came flowing out. Loving them in spite of how they misbehaved or what side of the tracks they came from was kind of hard at first. The children seemed to flourish in their ability to act better with compliments and encouragement from me...Yes, I was remembering those precious teachers and youth leaders that I had growing up! Our family was poor and “mixed up” but those Christians just loved me anyway and seemed to know that I needed that “extra” love and encouragement. I was determined to do that for the children in the churches where we ministered. Throughout 50 years of local ministry, helping children to become their very best for the Lord has been one of my goals.

With our own house full of boys, reading I Corinthians 13 was almost a daily requirement for me! “Love is patient” yes, Lord, I’m trying! “Love is kind”...Yes, I’m trying to be in all circumstances...even when the mess becomes mountain high! “Love keeps no record of wrongs”...but it’s hard not to remember that he did that yesterday and the day before too! Shouldn’t he learn from experience???? “Love always protects” yes, I could be like a mother bear if anyone attacks my child or my husband unfairly! As a mother, hope was always there, and trust that God would pull us through anything that came our way. One of my verses was Philippians 4:19 “And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus!” I sure needed all the characteristics of Love every day!

In addition to raising boys, I loved working with women in the churches and leading a Bible study weekly. Loving these ladies and wanting them to grow as Christian women was challenging. It was so neat to see them filling out their weekly lessons, beginning to pray aloud in a group, and to see them stretching to memorize verses each week. But...true to life, not all tried their hardest. Some whom I had thought would really grow, just didn’t do it. Yes, there came “love” into action again! In John 14:34 Jesus said, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Yes, Lord. I will love each woman and encourage her. It was my plan! I learned to accept the fact that all the ladies were growing and that all could be at different levels of maturity as a Christian and that was all right!
John the apostle summed Love up in his book, 1 John 4:19 “We love because God first loved us.” And verse 21 “And He has given us this command; Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

Remember that fire that loved little red chairs and wanted to destroy them? There is someone in this world that wants to destroy everyone that he can. That is the devil and he tries to push out LOVE and then he tries to destroy Christians. We need to remember God’s love for us and how He wants us to go to heaven and also to take as many people with us as we can! Just remember: “You, dear Children, are from God and have overcome them, (evil spirits) because the one who is in you is greater than the one (satan) who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4

Love will win!"

--Shirley Liston


***Thanks, Shirley! Please check back soon...JOY is next!