Fruit of the Spirit - Love

Galatians 5:22-23 “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,

peace, patience, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there

is no law.”

The first fruit we will talk about is love. And that’s not just

because it’s first in the list. It’s because it’s the most important

fruit that a believer can have growing in their life. But what do

we mean when we talk about love? That may sound like a

dumb question, but love is something that we rarely ever really

think about. And that’s because we think love is automatic.

Either you love someone or you don’t. But is that all there is to

love?

I love my wife. I also love pizza. I love my parents and family

and at the same time I love God. Am I expressing the same thing

when I say I love all of these things? Do I love Laura the same as

I love pizza? No, of course not. We over use the word love and

also use it as a replacement for the word enjoy. I enjoy pizza, but

I love Laura.

This is why the spiritual fruit of love is such a deep subject.

The Greeks had many different words to describe and

understand the concept of love. Eros, that refers to physical

attraction. Philia, which refers to the love between friends.

Agape, means unconditional sacrificial love. Storge, is the loveof your family. Mania, is obsessive love like a stalker. Philautia,

refers to your self esteem or how much you love you.

But in English there is only the one word, love…and we use it for

everything. That is a problem, because when we do that, it has

lost the depth of emphasis it needs.

We have to examine these different concepts of love if we are

going to know if we are truly operating in the fruit of love that is

described in the Bible.

Without Love, the rest of the fruit won’t be effective in your

life. As a matter of fact without love, none of the gifts of the

Spirit that you have been given, will be effective for use in the life

of the body of Christ. Love is the core foundation of everything.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul lists the gifts of the Spirit that a believer

may have been given, but then, at the very end of that chapter,

he says this: “And I will show you a still more excellent way.” He

then proceeds to say this in chapter 13.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 “1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of

angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging

cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all

mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to

remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give

away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but

have not love, I gain nothing.”

1 Corinthians 13, the famous love chapter, is saying the more

excellent way to be operating as a believer is by making sure

when you are using your spiritual gifts…you do it in love.

Without love, all of your gifts are nothing. This is the clearest

indication that God would rather you focus on your fruit than on

your gifts.1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “4 Love is patient and kind; love does not

envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on

its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice

at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all

things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

Is that the depth of love that operates in your daily life?

That kind of love is more than a fuzzy feeling during a Hallmark

movie. This is a love that requires work and determination to

maintain a consistent testimony in our life as believers. This

passage is where the rubber meets the road when it comes to

testing if you are operating in true biblical love.

Is the love you have for others patient and kind? Is it envious of

them? Are you being rude with them or displaying arrogance?

Do things always have to go your way or can you go with what

they want? Are you irritable and resentful? Are you happy when

you see someone who is doing something wrong just because

they are on your side of the political isle? Or can you be happy

when some does something truthful and right, regardless of

which party they are with?

Notice verse 7…it describes an unconditional love. The kind

that does not say, if you love me, then I’ll love you. It bears,

believes, hopes and endures…all things. It doesn’t walk out or

run away when things get difficult. Quite the opposite. That’s

the time it buckles down with a determination to stick around and

work it out.

I’m not talking about sticking around when your are being

used and abused. That is what an abuser would say. You have

to know the difference in a narcissistic person telling you that if

you loved them, you’d stay…and someone who truly has your

best interests in mind, who wants to work things out for your

benefit.1 Corinthians 13:8-12

“8 Love never ends. As for prophecies,

they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for

knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we

prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial

will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I

thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a

man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror

dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know

fully, even as I have been fully known.”

While we are here, let’s talk for a minute about these verses that

are used as a justification for why some denominations say that

some of the gifts of the Spirit have ceased.

It certainly looks like this passage just said that prophesies,

tongues and words of knowledge have passes away or ceased.

But that’s only when you don’t look closely. What it actually said

was that they will pass away and cease at a future time.

And when will that time be? The answer is in verse 10. It says

“When the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.” The gifts

of the Spirit are all partial gifts to be used in this current imperfect

world. The partial gifts will cease when you die and perfection

comes. It is not saying that the gifts have ceased when the

Apostles died…it is saying just the opposite. The gift you have

will cease for you…when you die. Or for everyone at the return

of Jesus when He makes things perfect.

1 Corinthians 13:13

“13 So now faith, hope, and love abide,

these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Why is love greater than faith and hope? We can be faithful, full

of faith, which produces action. You can also be hopeful, full of

hope, which is an emotion. But you are not loveful…because

love isn’t what you’re filled with…it’s who you are.Love is a way of thinking…our state of mind, or state of being.

Here’s a Kingdom Key: Your way of thinking (thoughts) will

drive our actions/faith and our emotions/hope.

That is why Love is greater than faith and hope.

Love is the container that holds faith and hope. Love gives

faith and hope a solid, stable foundation to exist.

When love is our state of mind and our driving thought, it brings

us into alignment with God. God’s thoughts and His state of

being is love.

1 John 4:7-10

“7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is

from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows

God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God,

because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made

manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so

that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we

have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the

propitiation for our sins.”

God sent His Son so that we could live a life of love toward

others. God’s original design was for us to love one another.

When Jesus provided a way for us to become son’s of the Father,

it was for us to be able to take on His way of thinking and state

of being. And that is to love, freely and without regard to what it

will cost us.

John 3:16-17

“16 For God so loved the world that He gave His

only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not

perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son

into the world to condemn the world, but that the world

through Him might be saved.”God’s plan was to reconcile “the world”, because He loved it.

God loves all of His creation. The earth, the animals, the people

and the kingdom system He established for how it was supposed

to operate.

Our thoughts should be ruled by love, and that should drive every

feeling, decision and action.

How are you doing with that? Is love driving your thoughts? Is

it a love for others and God, or is it a love for what makes you

happy and comfortable?

We like to think of love as something that’s easy and feels great.

But the truth is that if you’re going to focus your love on others, it

will be difficult and costly. But this is the way God set the

example for us and it should be our goal too. Are we loving our

enemies? Are we even trying? What would allow us to love

them? If we can see them the way God sees us, it will open our

hearts to love them.

We said a couple weeks ago that nothing can separate us from

God’s love. And we should take that same approach when it

comes to loving our brothers and sisters in Christ.

1 John 4:7-8 “7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is

from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows

God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God,

because God is love.”

Have you been born of God? Do you claim to know Him? How

are you doing in this area?

1 John 2:9-10 “9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his

brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother

abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.”Are you careful to avoid arguments and disputes with your fellow

believers?

1 John 3:16-18 “16 By this we know love, that he laid down his

life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the

brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his

brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does

God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in

word or talk but in deed and in truth.”

Love requires action. There is no way around this. Talk is

cheap, but action shows commitment. How easy is it to say

“love ya” when you are saying good by to someone after church?

Pretty easy, right. Now, how easy is it to actually show up when

they are in need, and give of yourself to fix their problem? Much

more difficult, right? But that is what love requires.

How are you doing when it comes to being loved yourself? Do

you allow others to love you or do you push them away? I know

it can be difficult to feel loved when you are alone.

Feeling unloved may be the most difficult feeling, but it’s

probably the easiest to overcome. Here’s how you do it.

Hebrews 10:24-25 “24 And let us consider how to stir up one

another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet

together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one

another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

If you are here this morning, you have already taken the first step.

If you are watching online and have not yet decided to show up

in person, let me encourage you to make up your mind right now

to do that.The body of Christ is here meeting together to encourage each

other and to love each other. If you neglect coming to church

and being around people who love God and love you, it will

naturally cause you to feel unloved.

Proverbs 18:1 “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;

he breaks out against all sound judgment.”

You can’t isolate yourself and expect to feel loved. Satan

loves to convince believers that they don’t need church. Have

you ever heard someone say, “I don’t have to go to church to be

a Christian.” That statement is 100% true. But it’s also true that

you don’t have to live with your spouse to be married.

Something can be true and also a terrible idea at the same time.

Do you see the problem? Without being around the ones who

love you, the feeling of love quickly dies and so does the

relationship. Our love for each other is how we are to be

known by those outside of the church.

John 13:34-35 “34 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. 35 By this all people will know that you are

my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Jesus didn’t just suggest that we love one another, He

commanded it. You can’t show up to church with an angry

scowl on your face and expect people to run over and tell you

how much they love you. I don’t know if you’ve ever met people,

but that’s not how they work. You have a part to play in this.

Show up, be loving and you will be loved.