HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div
“My dear friends, brothers and sisters, let us love one another, for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” – 1 John 4:7-8
True, biblical love is a choice, not a feeling. It deliberately expresses itself in loving ways and always seeks the welfare of others. Biblical love is dependent on the giver’s character, not emotion. For instance, a mature believer demonstrating love will not exercise his or her freedom if that action might harm another Christian in some way.
Rather than risking the possibility of causing the immature Christian to question and stumble, the mature believer will not exercise his freedom out of love for his brother (Romans 14:1-15). Love chooses to set aside one’s own preferences, desires, and sometimes even needs to put the other person first (Philippians 2:1-3).
THE FRUIT OF LOVE
The very first attribute is love. It’s important to note that there isn’t a single word out of place in God’s Word. I think it’s no accident that love comes first. Why? Because the whole Bible is the rulebook for living and our instructions in righteousness. When we fulfil God’s commandment to love God first and then everybody else as ourselves, we are living out the whole Gospel of Christ.
Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:36-40
Love truly encompasses all of the other types of Fruit of the Spirit. This type of love is agape love which is the love of Christ. It’s the decision to love. It’s not just a feeling. This love goes above the love of family or friends. This type of love is directed towards everyone, including people who are unlovable.
CONTINUES TOMORROW …
