The Fruit of the Spirit is Love....

Galatians 5:22 ~ The Fruit of the Spirit is Love...

Little girls long to grow up and fall in love.  Little boys love frogs and bugs.  We say we love chocolate.  But what is love?  Do we really love chocolate?  Maybe.  Bugs?  I think not. 

So then, we must ask ourselves two questions.  The first is: What is love?  The second:  Do *I* love?  This may sound like a funny question, but let me expound...

What is Love?

I John 4:10 ~ Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

John 4:16 ~ God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

My husband is a Pastor and we do a lot of work with the teenagers and single adults.  The subject of "love" is something that's never far from the mind of a teenager or young person.  Especially a young lady.  We try to remind them that love isn't a fuzzy feeling.  It's a decision - decision to give yourself totally and completely for the benefit of the other person.  That's what Jesus did for us.  We haven't done a single thing to earn His love, nor are we capable of returning it properly.  But we can follow His example and ask for His help when it comes to loving others.  We must ask for His help.  We can't do it alone.

So, now we know what love is:  The giving of one's self completely and totally for the other person's benefit - even when it isn't fun or easy.  So, basically it's impossible for me to love.  I must have God, Who is love, living in me and reflecting His love through me.  I can't possibly love without Him. 

{photo credit}

The Love of God: {My Favorite Song}

1. The love of God is greater far
   Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
   It goes beyond the highest star,
   And reaches to the lowest hell;
   The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
   God gave His Son to win;
   His erring child He reconciled,
   And pardoned from his sin.
   • Refrain:
     Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
     How measureless and strong!
     It shall forevermore endure—
     The saints’ and angels’ song.
2. When hoary time shall pass away,
   And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
   When men who here refuse to pray,
   On rocks and hills and mountains call,
   God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
   All measureless and strong;
   Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
   The saints’ and angels’ song.
3. Could we with ink the ocean fill,
   And were the skies of parchment made,
   Were every stalk on earth a quill,
   And every man a scribe by trade;
   To write the love of God above
   Would drain the ocean dry;
   Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
   Though stretched from sky to sky.

Verse 3 {which is my all-time favorite!} was found scratched on a wall in a tiny room in an insane asylum by a man who was supposedly crazy.   

So, then, if God is love and we can't love without Him - how do we love?  Or, rather....

Do *I* love?

Amy Carmichael said in her book "If"...{comparing Christians to a river bed and the love of God to rushing water}

"The empty riverbed "inherits" the water that pours through it from the heights; it does not not create that water, it only receives it, and it's treasuries are filled, it's pools overflow for the blessing and refreshment of the land.  It is so with us: our treasuries of time, our years with all their months, weeks, days. hours, minutes, are filled with the flowing treasure of love that we may help others."

So, then I must ask myself, do I love?  Do I allow God's love to continuously wash over and through me until is spills out and touches those around me?  Do I live to be loved more than I live to love?  This all goes back to dwelling in God and God in me.  Do I love?  Not without God.  Truly, it is only through the Spirit of God that we can demonstrate this Fruit of the Spirit because GOD IS LOVE!

Don't miss any of these other posts in our "Fruits Of the Spirit" series:

Joy ~ Jenny @ A Mother's Heritage

Peace ~ Heather @ Raising Mighty Arrows

Long-suffering ~ Richelle @ Under the Golden Apple Tree

Gentleness ~ Jacenda @ Growing Home

Goodness ~ Jill @ Jill's Home Remedies  

Faith ~ Esther @ Our Simple Country Life 

Meekness ~ Stephanie @ Pure Modesty

Temperance ~ Christin @ Joyful Mothering

against such there is no law...

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