“But the fruit of the Spirit is love,….” Galatians 5:22
Love is first.
It’s the starting point because love is the outflowing of all of the other fruit.
We get our example of love from our heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus. God’s love for us is what we have even before we know it. God took the first step toward us, and Christ demonstrated this love by dying to pay the penalty for sin on our behalf.
Nelson’s illustrated dictionary gives us a definition of love.
“the high esteem that God has for His human children and the high regard which they, in turn, should have for Him and other people. Two distinct Greek words meaning “to love” appear in the Bible. The word phileo means “to have ardent affection and feeling “-a type of impulsive love. The other word agapao means “to have esteem” or “high regard.” (2014)
The type of love in Galatians 5 is agape.
God’s love for us is sacrificial. It’s the same love God wants us to have as believers.
Jesus told us in Matthew 22:37- 39, “And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (ESV)
As followers of Christ, our lives are to be selfless. We should love ourselves first and then others. Love is a choice, and as we grow in our faith, the Holy Spirit will help us choose love.
Paul in I Corinthians 13 tell the church what is love, “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things….. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” I Corinthians 13:5-7,13 (ESV)
Love can be difficult. It does not come naturally because some people are difficult to love.
“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
“Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back” (Luke 6:35).
Which is why we can’t show love to others with our own strength. Prayer and a willing heart is a start.
“What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.” Saint Augustine
Reference
Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary Editor Ronald F. Youngblood (2014)
