The fruit of the spirit is Love
Last week I wrote about the Fruits of the Spirit as in found in Galatians 5:22, 23. And as promised, I will be taking each fruit a week and elaborate on it. So today we will be talking about LOVE.
What is LOVE?
Wikipedia definition: Love is any of a number of emotions related to a sense of strong affection and attachment. The word love can refer to a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes, ranging from generic pleasure ("I loved that meal") to intense interpersonal attraction ("I love my wife"). This diversity of uses and meanings, combined with the complexity of the feelings involved, makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, even compared to other emotional states.
My Bible defines Love in 1 Corinthians 13:1 - 8
1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
From the two definitions we can see that the world uses the word love very loosely. We often say that we love the weather, we love our favourite food, and we love our dog. But these kinds of love do not pass the test of true Godlike love as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13. It’s something altogether different, something that impacts our entire existence, our way of life, our way of relating to others. The ingredients of love are a package, not a list from which we select those most appealing to us while we disregard the rest.
Love is the paramount virtue for Christians because it is the trait that most characterizes God. It was love that motivated God to create us, to sustain us, to make Himself known to us, and to give us His Son in order to redeem us.
Love is Multidimensional
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself ’” (Matt. 22:37–39, NKJV
I want to believe that the first part comes easy and natural when you accept Jesus as your personal Saviour. Who is my neighbour? The story of the Good Samaritan describes this perfectly. This was love in action. To love our neighbour as ourselves means to take care of someone else the same way you would take care of yourself.
What Love Does
“Love suffers long and is kind; . . . thinks no evil; . . . rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails” (1 Cor. 13:4–8, NKJV).
What Love Does not DO? The opposite of the above.
The Test of Love
“But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”
Matthew 5:44
Who is your enemy?
If we are to love our enemies, we had better discover who exactly our enemies are. If an enemy is only the one who threatens your life, you may think this text doesn’t apply to you, inasmuch as you prob¬ably have not had your life threatened lately. But by definition, an enemy is an opponent, a rival, a competitor, a challenger, a contender. An enemy is one who hates you or who mis¬treats you. It might even be a spouse or another member of the family. There may be times when a family member isn’t very loving. He or she may even look for ways to irritate you—or worse. When that hap¬pens, it is easy to get caught in the trap of retaliation and pettiness.
Sometimes you may experience conflict on the job, and those you have worked with side by side over the years may begin to think of you as an opponent. An enemy could be someone you have cared a great deal for or even may be someone in your church. We need to realize that the enemy Jesus referred to is not limited to someone who would threaten our lives but is anyone who causes us enough consternation to tempt us to retaliate.
Consider these words: “I was hungry, and you formed a humanities club to discuss it. I was imprisoned, but you complained about the crime rate. I was naked, and you debated the morality of my appear¬ance. I was sick, and you thanked God for your health. I was homeless, and you preached to me about the shelter of God’s love. You seem so holy and so close to God; but I’m still hungry, lonely, cold, and in pain. Does it matter?”
Be honest. What kind of lifestyle changes should you make so that you can become a good Samaritan to others? Who do you know right now who is at this moment on the other side of the road in the world of hurt? How much death to self will it require for you to treat this person as a “neighbour”?
“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the
greatest of these is love”
(1 Corinthians 13:13, NKJV).
Reference: Adult Bible Study Lesson 2010 1st Quarter – Fruits of the Spirit