The Fruit of the Spirit: Love

Written By Melvin Jones

Last time we took a look at the overall aspect of the Fruit of the Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit. In Galatians 5:22-23, God tells us what the Fruit of the Spirit should look like in a Christian's life. He says it is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control. Of course, using words to describe something doesn't help much if we don't know what those words mean. So let's spend the next several weeks going through this list and see if we can come to some understanding of what God means when he uses each of these words to describe the Fruit of the Spirit. And let's start with the one probably the most misunderstood: Love.

When we hear the word love we usually think of dating, romance, and sex, and usually in about that order. But love, real love is not about dating. It's not about romance. And it definitely isn't about sex.

So what are we talking about? The word we see in modern English translations as Love and in the King James Version (KJV) as Charity, is translated from the Greek word AGAPAO. And you're right: these aren't really Greek letters, but this is how you pronounce the word. You will sometimes see it as AGAPE (AGAHPEE). So what is it?

Love, or charity, is active. It causes action in the one who loves toward the one who is loved. For example, John 3:16 says that "…God so LOVED the world that He gave His only begotten Son…" God's love caused Him to act for the benefit of the ones He loves. Love, despite the objections of John Gault or Howard Roark, is about sacrifice. But it's not sacrifice out of a sense of guilt or some other emotion. Rather it is sacrifice that the one who loves determines in his or her mind to make for the benefit of another.

A father sacrifices for his child not because he expects the child to be a world class athlete one day. Instead, he sacrifices for the child because he values the child and wants the best that he can accomplish for the child.

A husband who is exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit, sacrifices for his wife. But again, the sacrifice isn't made in order to win points with his spouse. And it's not a matter of just doing stuff for her, or of being a door mat. Rather, he sacrifices for her well being, physically and spiritually. He sacrifices for his family's well being. And here's the hard part, he sacrifices for them even if they don't appreciate what he is doing. He does it because he isn't doing it for recognition. He is doing it for their well being.

So where does the Holy Spirit come in? Like something out of an old movie, I can sacrifice for someone else without God's Spirit living in me. And if things turn out as I think they should, then all is well. But humanly speaking, if I sacrifice and things don't turn out the way I think they should, I can easily become disillusioned, disappointed, and worst of all bitter.

But if, instead of doing the things God asks of me in my own strength and in my own understanding, I allow God to work through me, then my satisfaction will be based on my obedience to God, not on the results I may see in front of me.

Philippians 2:13 says that it is God who is at work in me both to will and to work for His good pleasure. When, in faith, I submit myself to Him, then he modifies my will. He refocuses my work and moves it from how it will benefit me to how it will glorify God. At that point, sacrifice becomes the result of my obedience to the Holy Spirit. At that point, love, true love for the brethren (even the ones I don't like and don't want to do anything for) becomes a growing reality. And as I continue to walk in that Spirit powered love, I become more and more like Christ. My desires fade. My desire to build up the body of Christ and to be of benefit to those around me grows.

This aspect of the Fruit of the Spirit keeps us from willfully and consistently doing those things that will hurt another person, even another person (Christian or not) who will do things to hurt me. It sounds crazy, but it's a part of being transformed rather than conforming to the way the rest of the world behaves. (Romans 12:1-2)

Next time, we'll discuss Joy and see how it too is dependent on a relationship with Jesus Christ and a dependence on the Holy Spirit.