I'm trying something new on this blog. I've decided to write a series on the fruit of the Spirit. This will be a 9 week series with each week focusing on a different fruit. We've all heard the verses about the fruit of the Spirt – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23) – but if you're anything like me, you've never really dived into the fruit and evaluated your life through the fruit. I've decided to change that. This series is to help me – and hopefully help you – reflect on my life and if I live by the fruit or live by the world.
So, without further ado, welcome to the first part of the series! This week will be focused on the first fruit: love.
Love is a prevalent theme throughout the entire Bible, especially in the New Testament. 1 John 4 says a lot about God and love. God is love. It is because God loves us and lives in us that we are able to love others. The two greatest commandments involve love:
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” - Matthew 22:37-40
Love is obviously very important. It's all throughout the Bible and God emphasizes it a ton. But what is love?
Love is often seen as superficial. It's strong, passionate, and all-powering for a time but somehow doesn't always seem to last. It's seen as a fleeting feeling. This is the worldly love. The Bible, however, describes love differently.
In the Bible, there are about 4 different types of love. Eros is the romantic love. Storge is fondness; it's something you feel towards family and even pets. Philos is the love of friendship. The type of love from Galatians 5:22 is agape. This is an unconditional love. It's the purest form of love.
This is the type of love that should characterize our lives as a result of Christ living in us. We should love others no matter what. We shouldn't judge, hurt, harass, or belittle anyone. We should be willing to do anything for a person through love. This is the type of love that God displays toward us and we should in turn display it toward others.
So what does this look like?
This type of love is only possible through God (1 John 4:7-8). We cannot love as God loves unless God lives in us. He alone gives us the ability to love unconditionally. It doesn't matter if the person doesn't love us back, if they have done us wrong, or if they're not the type of person we'd want to hang out with. What matters is that they are made in the image of God, and if that's a good enough reason for God to love them, then it's definitely a good enough reason for us to love them.
How do you start to love others like God loves others?
First, you must love God. This is the greatest commandment and if you can't love God, how can you love others? 1 John 4:20 shows us why.
If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
It is not possible to love others well until we are able to love God. Only after we learn to love God can we be examples of unconditional love for others.
Ask God to change your heart. If your heart is like mine, which I'm guessing it is, then it's not easy to love everyone unselfishly and with best regards. It's easy to judge. It's easy to hate. It's easy to put your own needs first, but this is just our sinful nature coming through. It may be easy, but it's wrong and you can't make it right without the Lord changing your heart. Let Him show you how to love. Let the Holy Spirit point out how you're loving wrong and mold your heart so you can love well.
