Hi everyone, welcome to my blog.Today I will be writing about the fruit of the Spirit – Love. I will be doing a separate post on each fruit so that we could take our time to discuss and meditate on each one.
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. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-25).
Let’s explore the first of the 9 Fruits – The Fruit of the Spirit – Love
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
This is a sure sign that God loved us, He gave His only Begotten Son so that we could have life, the good life, abundant life; this was before knew Him, didn’t care, and didn’t ask for Him – and He still gave. Jesus gave Himself for the sin of the world – “that’s everyone”, and even after He gave Himself, some still rejected Him, even today most don’t receive the free gift of salvation. I said that, to say this… God’s love is pure and never-ending, never giving up on us. And this is the love God wants us to have and live in every day – knowing His love and sharing it with others. He is still desiring that all be saved.
I have a question, and when you answer this question – take it personal to yourself. Is there anything you can do that will stop God from loving you? I hope your answer is no. If you read Roman’s 8, Particularly verses 31-39 you will see this unconditional love. This should free you from any mis-consumptions that God could be mad or disappointed in you, add chapter 7 to your reading. He knows who we are, the good, the bad, and the ugly. That’s why He sent Jesus, to save us from ourselves (Listen to this song when you get a chance). It’s an uplifting song on the Love that God has for us.
God loves everyone
There are no favorites with God, His love crosses all borders, religions, race, and any other status that we can come up with. But he is a respecter of Faith – But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Heb. 11:6
Walking in the Spirit is a faith walk – and faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. The Word of God is our Spiritual food that we must eat every day. We don’t miss eating physical food, so why do we let our spirit starve; Feed your spiritual. Jesus’ faith was placed in our spirit when we accepted Him as our Lord and Savior. So, it is His love that lives in us that enables us to love Him and others.
Love is the new commandment; A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another (John 13:34). Because of our new nature, we can love like God. Emagine what we can do and change with this power; love covers a multitude of sins (1Pet. 4:8), it ushers in all the other fruits that will change our life and the lives of those we encounter. Read 1Cor. 13, it’s known as the love chapter. Paul didn’t write this chapter just to tickle their toes; It’s the absolute truth; he was letting them know (and us) where the power is. Just to give you a taste:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.Love never fails.
Wow, and don’t just imagine it, God expects us to live it. This is holiness, this is showing the world the God we serve, and He doesn’t leave us to work this love on our own (we couldn’t if we wanted to). I love this part…. He gave us everything we need to be holy like Him (2Pet. 1:3-10), to be perfect like Him, to love like Him; and this is where the Holy Spirit comes in – to equip us, teach us, and to produce the love of God in us to live in the Spirit.
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 1Pet. 1:3,4
This love is not to stop with our friends and family; we are to walk in love towards everyone. Those we like as well as those we don’t like, even those that don’t like us. We have it in us to love our enemies. We have to begin to value people as a whole… wouldn’t that destroy prejudices. Think about someone you don’t like and start valuing them, let the Holy Spirit show you how. Some of us have to start in our own home. Pay attention to what you are saying, are you speaking the words of God or the words of the world, are you speaking faith or fear, love or hate, what you think and feel or what’s in your spirit – letting the Holy Spirit lead and guide you.
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” John 16: 13-15
There is so much more that God wants to give us, as individuals – to walk in the Spirit. This is why the fruit of the Spirit – Love, is so important to our walk in Christ. The beginning of the scripture above, Jesus had this to say, I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes…Get in the Word of God, listen as Holy Spirit leads and see what He has to reveal to you.
I want to end with this verse… please excuse me for the length, I just couldn’t stop – it’s all so good.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Rom. 5:1-11
If you haven’t listened to the song I linked in the 2nd paragraph – please take a moment to listen to it, I believe you will like it.
Thank you for reading my blog post on the topic of The Fruit of the Spirit – Love. I am looking forward to sharing spiritual growth with you atspiritualgrowthwithtoni.com please subscribe below to read more blog posts like this one.
Hold on, before you click the back button feel free to explore and order one of my books titled “Life According to the Holy Spirit” at my Author’s Website (tonijoybooks.com), click the image below. It’s a book you wouldn’t want to miss.Are you yearning to boost your spiritual strength? This is the right book to start with…
