Tales from a Mother: Fruits of the Spirit: Day 2

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Fruits of the Spirit: Day 2 - Love

Galatians 5:22-23 -- "But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!"

The best description of love is found in 1 Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 -- "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."

True love is not directed inward towards self, like the love of the world tends to be. Instead, it is turned outward, towards others. It is utterly unselfish.

This is the kind of love God has for us. Even though God is perfect, He knows and understands we are not, and yet...He loves us anyway.

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We tend to want things to be perfect before we can love them. We requires guarantees before we can give our trust. That is impossible in the world because we are all flawed, all imperfect in great and subtle ways. However, God is perfect and has proven time and time again that He deserves our trust and He loves us regardless.

It can be hard to let go of our selfish desires, to give others this type of trust and love. But it is the way Christ loved and how He commanded us to love each other.

It takes discipline, practice and most importantly a relationship to love like Christ. However, when we put direct energy in our efforts and allow Christ to show true love to us, we will begin to love others as He loves us. And then we will love others as His purpose for us intends and in turn we will gain blessings we could never have imagined.