“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love ...” Galatians 5:22a

 

“‘And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

Mark 12:30-31

 

It's time for  love!

 

When someone asks me to tell them what I know about something,  I usually start the list with the basic, obvious answer. If I was asked to list some things I know about George Washington, my first response would be that He was the 1st President of the United States. My first response would probably not be the He was the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, nor that he was the only unanimously elected President. It would simply be the most basic known fact.

 

When Paul starts the listing of the “sections” of the fruit of the Spirit, he starts the list with Love. It’s the most well-known part; it’s the part everyone knows about God. God is all about love; in fact, HE IS LOVE! (I John 4:8)

 

There are so many Scriptures about love, that to try to address even a small percentage of them would be beyond the boundaries of a Blog. So let’s look at this one from the book of Mark. It’s one (I’m pretty sure) that if we were asked to list some Scriptures on love would be one of the first responses (along with John 3:16 and I Corinthians 13).

 

In the Old Testament, God’s people were given the first part of this as a Commandment: “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” (Deut. 6:5) In the New Testament, Jesus reminds His followers of this same command and adds to it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Well, “adds to it” probably isn’t the best choice of words. Jesus was expanding on what was already in place. If we love God with all our heart, soul and might, we can’t help but love what He loves, and He loves people. God hasn’t changed—His heart always has been, is, and always will be about us loving Him and each other.

 

Love is attractive! It pulls us to itself. It’s like a strong magnet, whereas hate is like a strong repellent. Proverbs 10:12 says this: “Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love makes up for all offenses.” Love brings hope. As long as there is love, there is a chance… a chance for healing, for acceptance, for forgiveness, and the list could go on and on.

 

If the first “fruit section” that we display to the world is love, we’ll have their attention. If our motives stem from love not from “I’m right,” or even worse “You’re wrong,” there’s hope that they’ll stay around long enough to see Jesus. Everyone can love the lovable. That’s fruit our old DNA can produce. Loving the unlovable, loving in unloving circumstances, loving sacrificially… that’s fruit only our “new creature in Christ” DNA can produce!  

 

We all need some “love blossoms” on our tree… Those blossoms need to grow into fully matured fruit… Let’s make sure we’re getting the nourishment we need to make that happen!

 

Reminder: We are known by our fruits… (Matthew 7:16a)