Fruit of the Spirit Series

God designed love with three characteristics. The first disposition of love is Himself. Next the love between husband and wife shows intimacy and the ability to partner with God to create new life. The third type of love is between neighbors.

Love is referenced over three hundred times throughout the Bible. God’s two greatest commandments account for two of those mentions (Matthew 22:36-40). So it isn’t by accident Paul list love as the taproot for the fruit of the Spirit.

God’s Infinite Love

Our Father leaves no doubt in His love towards humanity. He never stops loving us and expresses it with the gift of salvation. God’s love is infinite with unconditional compassion. The Lord’s love can’t be found in materialism or money. No, it only emerges through believing in Christ.

Greek is the language of the New Testament. And the Greek word meaning God’s love is agape. It heightens His incredible benevolence. He created us in His loving image.

When Adam and Eve sinned against God, He didn’t stop loving them (Genesis 3:22). In that verse, He provided them a way back into His grace with love. This love is extended to us.

God’s plan for heaven, makes Jesus the sole entry into His kingdom (John 14:6). This undeniable truth separates His chosen people from those who refuse to accept His love. And without God’s affection, life is doomed.

We can agree that God’s unprecedented act of love shows up at the cross. He wanted to show the world His love for humanity and sacrificed His Son, Jesus Christ. See how much He wants us to experience His compassion. Indeed, God allowed our Messiah to die for the forgiveness of sin, paving the way for His everlasting love.

When Jesus lived on earth, He shared:

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

John 15:13

In that scripture, Christ foretold God’s purpose for His death. They showed bewilderment when Jesus spoke to His Disciples about His upcoming crucifixion. His Apostle expected Him to continue His ministry. But He told them this is God’s plan for eternity and necessary for the Lord’s new covenant with humanity (John 16:7).

Jesus lay down His life to include us in God’s new heaven and earth (Revelation 21:1-8). Can you see how astonishing our Father’s love has for our place in heaven.? 

Christ’s death, coupled with His resurrection and ascension back to heaven, elevates God’s ever-flowing love for those who proclaim Christ as the Savior and believe without reservations God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9).

As shown above, agape shows God’s, undeniable love. These are a few examples. Praying and meditating on His word provides more insight into His love.

Love Between Husband and Wife

The love between a husband and wife manifests God’s intended purpose to partake in creating new life. This incredible trust God gives brings unbelievable joy to the parents. Through the birth of a child, they experience His irrefutable omnipotence.

The Greek word defining love between spouses is eros. It’s the sexual intimacy leading to physical love. Indeed, God designed this incredible experience of sexual love as an enjoyable occasion. For this reason, the world remains populated.

As noted above, sexual love isn’t wrong. But many couples misuse this God-given gift. Actual Christian marriages don’t start with a sexual encounter before they unite and become one entity. They wait until their vows are finished.

To experience the phenomenal physical love God bestowed between men and women, they must seek His guidance. When husbands and wives rely on God, He uses the Holy Spirit to unveil the correct behavior for sexual relations. When couples follow God’s will, the experience is exhilarating.

But when marriages don’t center their lives on Christ, sexual lust raises its ugly head and causes severe problems.   

We can’t avoid witnessing the emotional, spiritual, and mental damage caused by sexual immorality in our generation. Here we see Satan working diligently to ruin God’s purpose for righteous sexual experiences. With marriage on the decline and divorce on the rise, it’s not surprising the exploitation of sexual misconduct continues driving people away from God.

God’s primary reason for eros is to birth children. This doesn’t mean He disproves physically loving each other. No, He made this part of life a desirable encounter.

God approves of physical love. Remember, He understood Adam shouldn’t be alone and created Eve (Genesis 2:18,21). At this point in humanity’s history, everything was good.

Loving Each Other

The third characteristic of holy love is between each other. In the Greek dictionary, philos defines brotherly love. When we show love to others, it embraces them with grace, affection, and gentleness. In my experience, receiving love from another person, it’s comforting, heart-warming, and peaceful.

Our best teacher on how to love others comes from Christ.

Jesus said this:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 13:34-35

Christ points out loving others starts with loving Him. Remember Jesus works through us and in these two scriptures, we see this truth. To extend His love, I must build a personal relationship with Him. This means setting aside time each day and meditating on His words, praying, and talking with others about the Gospel.

How do I know I love Jesus?

The answer to the question comes from the Holy Spirit. God never leaves us guessing about salvation, and He uses the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with an overwhelming inner presence of Jesus. When I’m connected with this incredible oneness, my love for Christ emerges. As a result of this experience, it motivates me to love others.

Did you notice Jesus unveiled loving each other all people understands who lives in God’s kingdom?

Christ wants us to shine God’s light on the world (Matthew 5:13-16). By expressing sincere affection toward each other, nonbelievers come in contact with a holy flame filled with compassion and full of empathy. And through loving others, we radiate the inner workings of the Holy Spirit.

As a result of following Jesus’s new commandment, we become doers of the word. It pleases God when I make an effort to tell others I love them. Loving others is worthwhile because God rewards us with His love.

Conclusion

Given these points, it’s not by accident that love covers many sins (1 Peter 4:8). Love is the gateway to the fruit of the Spirit. In fact, the other eight attributes hinge on our actions of love.

What’s your experience with love?