Week 1 Fruit of the Spirit: Love

Hello everyone!! This week, we start our discussion on the Fruit of the Spirit. Each week, we will explore one particular fruit. Today’s topic is love. ❤️It’s all about love!!❤️ We will discuss how we can walk in love as a believer. Navigating through scripture will show us what love is, our requirement to love, the example that God provides for us, and how it can be expressed to others.

First, we can understand what love is when we read I Corinthians 13:4-8a. It gives us a perfect understanding of what love should and should not be. I will begin with what love is. In the passage of scripture, we see that love is longsuffering. This means it is showing patience in spite of troubles, especially those caused by other people. Next, love is kind. In showing kindness, we are generous, helpful, and thinking about other people’s feelings. Also, love rejoices in the truth. Verse 7 lets us know that it bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things. These describe what love is. Additionally, it is important to recognize what love should not consist of. When we display genuine love, it is not envious. It’s not boastful of oneself. It should not be prideful. Love is not self-seeking, only looking out for the benefit of oneself. It does not behave unbecomingly or rudely. Love is not provoked to anger. Authentic love thinks no evil. It does not rejoice in unrighteousness. Lastly, it never fails. As believers, we can take 1 Corinthians 13 to analyze if we are truly displaying love the way God has purposed for each of us.

This love is agape love. It’s considered the highest form of love. It is different from storge (familial), eros (romantic), and philia (brotherly/friendship) love. It is unconditional and selfless. What we will discuss further in this post is that our Heavenly Father perfectly shows us how to display agape love. But, before we look at the Father’s example, we must examine the requirement we have as believers.

The Love Command

In the above scripture, Jesus lets us know that we are commanded to love one another. This is not a suggestion but a requirement. He reiterates that when we love each other, we display that we are His disciples. The agape love we give to others shows the world who we belong to. When we choose to love selflessly, we are being Christ-like.
Loving others is not always an easy task, especially when dealing with difficult and mean-spirited people. But we have to be mature enough to love the person even when they can’t reciprocate it. Our ability to love is not based on the other person and his/her willingness to embrace us with love. We love because we are instructed to do so. With our Savior giving us this command, we have a perfect model of selfless, unconditional love.

Our Example of Love

Our Father is the template for love. God is love. We look to Him to learn how to love others. In our love walk, we need practice. There may be times when we fall short and do not show love the way that Yah has modeled for us. But when we read the Word, we can mirror God in operating in unconditional love.  We see the depth of His love in Romans 5:8 and in John 3:16. It displays sacrificial love. God sent His only begotten Son to die for the sins of the world. In return, the Son willing laid down His life to be the ultimate sacrifice. There is no greater love than that. And, by grace, the free gift of God, all who put their faith in Christ are saved. Because of Christ’s finished work of cross (death, burial, and resurrection), we have life through Him. If we ever struggle with feeling loved, that should be the cure. Through the Truth of God’s Word, we can see and believe that we are fully loved. And, no one can love us more than our Father. 

In I John 4:7-21, it emphasizes loving others. It’s a call to action. God loves us, so our response is to love others. When we love, it shows that we abide in God, and He abides in us. As I previously mentioned, displaying love shows the world who we belong to. While the world dishes out hate, we choose love. But it’s not a tolerant, all accepting love. It does not think evil, nor does it rejoice in iniquity. This love does not make allowances for sin or any type of wickedness. It is not tolerating what God has condemned but giving the truth in love led by the Spirit of God.

At the end of the passage, God instructs us to love our brother. He shows us that we can not genuinely love Him if we don’t love our fellow brethren.  We must love the people we do life with. We can not harbor hate in our hearts and truly love the Father. In spite of conflicts, disagreements, and even offenses, we must forgive so we do not become bitter and harbor resentment. Consequently, bitterness and resentment can turn into hatred. This shows us the reason why we need to be long-suffering. Otherwise, we would constantly stay in a state of offense, unable to love our fellow brethren. God shows us that the selfless, sacrificial love we give to others must be enduring and genuine.

Genuinely Loving Others

As believers, our love needs to be genuine. Our words and deeds should be in alignment with each other. When we say we love others, we should follow through in our actions. Anything else is merely lip service and insincere. It is possible to feign an “I love you.” But, what we do, or rather how we treat others, proves something entirely different. I want to reiterate the importance of working through differences, disagreements, and conflicts. We can not afford to let trivial things become magnified, bringing in discord, which causes a breakdown in our love walk with others. Genuine love takes maturity. It is giving up the right to be right. It involves putting off any selfishness and ego.  Instead, we work through the challenges and hardships together in order to achieve a peaceful resolution and love one another sincerely.

In Romans 12:10, we are instructed to be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love. This lets us know that we must show love to each other as in a family. Just as families may have disagreements that can be resolved, the same applies within the body of Christ. As believers, we make up the members of the body, which represent God’s spiritual family. It is important for us to see each other as family enabling us to better love. We operate in selflessness and honor when we give preference to one another.

If we still are having a difficult time displaying love, we need Yah to reveal anything hidden in our hearts that’s hindering us from genuinely loving others. With His guidance, we can identify the root and work towards resolving the issue. But regardless of the issue, we must be mature enough to address it, choose to forgive, desire to reconcile, and then operate in love. No matter what we face in our love walk, we should always remember who our example is. We can turn to our Father, who is the blueprint. When our ability to love is being tested, we have the Word to guide us in agape love. And, thankfully we have the Holy Spirit who brings to our remembrance the Word which we have meditated on and hidden within our hearts. That is why it is vital to meditate on God’s Word so it can be utilized when real-life situations occur.

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RECAP

LOVE is…   LOVE is not…

Think About It: Personal Reflection

• Am I genuinely walking in love?
• In what ways can I better show love to others around me?
• Challenge: Find someone to sow a seed of love into his/her life.

**Scriptures used from the New King James Bible and the authorized King James Bible

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