(If you haven’t read my invitation to practice the fruit of the Spirit, you can read more about why we are doing this here.)
Love is the first fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23. To understand it better, we must dig in a bit. The Greek word for love here is agape. It is the highest form of love, unconditional in its nature. This is the type of love God has for us.
This type of love does not come naturally to us, but God does want us to love in this way. Our only hope of producing the fruit of the Spirit is through God. When we know him deeply and abide in him, our character is conformed to reflect the aspects of his character, including agape love. While we won’t ever perfect love, we can learn more about it and ask God to grow it in us.
Let’s study love a bit more.
It is the most important virtue.
When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus answered in Matthew 22:37-39, “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.”
This is what God asks of us–to actively love him and others with agape-type love. By pursuing God, we are enabled to love him and others in this way. His love is made complete in us when we love one another, 1 John 4: 12 tells us.
After Paul lists a host of virtues, he says in Colossians 3:14, “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”
When we focus on love, so much else falls into place.
It is sacrificial.
In John 15:13, Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
I used to think this only applied to actually losing my life to save someone, like serving in the military or jumping into a lake to save someone who is drowning. This would be the ultimate sacrifice of life for others, which Jesus perfectly modeled when he died on the cross for us.
However, we are not exempt to this characteristic of agape love in our everyday, ordinary life. We can apply this sacrificial aspect of love to the idea of serving others with the resources we value–time, money, possessions, etc.
This facet of agape love is demonstrated in the mother who gets up (again) to comfort her crying baby in the middle of night. In the wife who sits by her husband’s hospital bed. In the husband who wakes at dawn to provide for his family without complaint. In the family that tithes to their church.
When you love sacrificially, you aren’t doing it expecting anything in return. It isn’t dependent on a thank you, accolades or reciprocation, but it is done simply out of care for a person.
Agape love values others more highly than whatever it is we are grasping most tightly to.
It is an action.
John says, “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” in 1 John 3:18.
Agape love is not swayed by emotions or feelings; those will ebb and flow. It is not just words or promises, even if you truly felt them in the moment.
If you have ever had a child in your life, picture (or remember!) them melting down in the store. In that moment, you may not feel loving toward them, but frustrated, embarrassed and angry. However, even with those temporary feelings, you still love them in the deeper, agape way. You would sacrifice your life for them in that instant if they were to be threatened.
Words ring hollow and untrue when not backed by action. 1 Corinthians 13:1 tells us, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.”
It is the action that is required to uphold our vows, “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health.” This is how God loves us, even as we turn from him, as we sin, as we get it wrong again and again. He continues to call us and forgive us.
It is also the reason we pursue an active relationship with God. Simply saying we believe is one thing, but working on your relationship with him through the disciplines of faith leads to a much richer life with God. Obedience is how we show God we love him.
It comes from God.
Read and study 1 Corinthians 13. Does anyone else feel like we can be all of those things that God said love isn’t, sometimes?
Self-seeking? Check.
Proud? Check.
This love doesn’t come naturally to our sinful nature. Agape love can only come from God, and we must actively draw near to God to be able to love more like this. The Spirit is our helper. This is why one of the virtues of the fruit of the Spirit is love.
Living a life of love is evidence of God in you. 1 John 4:16b says, “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”
It is how others see God in us.
This agape love is how we tell others about God. For those who don’t know or believe in God, their introduction of him may be in how we treat them. We want to live in a way that allows others to glimpse God’s character through our actions. In John 13:35, Jesus says, “by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Jesus wants us to be his disciples. For anyone who cringes at the thought of going door to door talking to strangers about the gospel, the truth in John 13:35 above may cause a sigh of relief. Discipleship can take many different forms, but all of them require loving others.
Agape love is how we shine our light in a dark world and glorify God.
Armed with more understanding of the love that is part of the fruit of the Spirit, we can be more intentional about recognizing how we can better love others. Remember that the fruit of the Spirit is not a checklist that we can accomplish or excuse ourselves from. Our job is to abide in God and the Spirit will increase his fruit, including love. I pray that the Spirit will move in big ways for us to love others. So when thinking about how to practice love, remember these aspects of agape love and listen for the Spirit to nudge you, then obey.
Ideas to practice love toward others:
- Tell someone one or more things that make them special to you.
- Ask a stranger if they would like you to pray for them, and then do it if they say yes. Think about restaurant servers, a nurse, a police officer, a teacher, someone you can tell isn’t having a good day, etc.
- Pray in the moment with a family member or friend when you become aware of a need.
- Sacrifice some of your time to help someone.
- Buy a meal, a coffee or groceries for someone.
- Do something kind (unprompted) for your spouse or another adult family member, expecting nothing in return.
- Give a gift to a homeless or needy person.
- Boast about someone you love, in front of them.
- When you feel yourself getting angry over something that doesn’t really matter in the big picture, pause, take a breathe or a break, and let it go without a sharp word, a look or a sigh. Don’t keep record to bring it up later.
- Go with a friend or loved one to do something they enjoy, even if it’s not your idea of a good time.
- Call or visit your long-winded friend and let them talk without making excuses to end the conversation.
Father, thank you for showing your perfect love to us. Let it guide us as we interact with others around us. Spirit, move in us to practice agape love toward our heavenly Father and toward others. Open our eyes to the needs of those around us, and help us to push past pride, inconvenience or nervousness to obey you. Help us to love better. Spirit, increase as we decrease. Amen.
Practicing the Fruit of the Spirit: An Invitation
Practicing the Fruit of the Spirit: Joy
Practicing the Fruit of the Spirit: Peace
Practicing the Fruit of the Spirit: Patience
Practicing the Fruit of the Spirit: Kindness
Practicing the Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness
Pingback: Practicing the Fruit of the Spirit: An Invitation - Cassie Lynn Douglas
Pingback: Practicing the Fruit of the Spirit: Joy - Cassie Lynn Douglas
Pingback: Practicing the Fruit of the Spirit: Peace - Cassie Lynn Douglas