The fruit of the Spirit is…love.
The first fruit of the Spirit that Paul mentions in his list is love. Love has been referred to as the crown-jewel of Christian character. You could say that it is the fruit above all fruit and the fruit that is present in all the other fruits. But what is love? There are as many answers to this question as there are 80’s rock songs about this topic. Perhaps a better way to phrase the question would be this: What does it mean to love in a distinctively Christian way? Our love should not be conformed to the definitions and standards of culture but to the character of Christ. He is the One in whom the Spirit’s fruit of love flourished purely and perfectly. When we look at Christ’s actions and words they give us this definition and model of love:
Christ-like love is serving and sacrificing for the good of another regardless of whether the act is reciprocated or the person is deserving. [1]
Love is…serving
Jesus demonstrated the servant-hearted nature of love in John 13 when he humbly stooped down to wash the disciples (disgustingly dirty and terribly smelly) feet. After this act of service he said to his disciples: “Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34)
How can you show tangible love by serving those in your church family today, this week, this year?
Love is…sacrificing
As Jesus demonstrated for us in the ultimate act of love on the cross, love requires sacrifice. We are called to emulate that love: “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” (1 John 3:16)
What sacrifices of time, energy, money, resources, personal ability, and gifts can you make to show love to others?
Love is…for the good of another
True Christian love is about motives and aims just as much as it is about action. You can serve in great ways and sacrifice to great degrees but not have love if you’re motives are impure. Serving to gain recognition is not Christian love. Sacrificing so that others will praise how much you sacrifice for others is not Christian love. Christian love is a self-forgetful others-oriented love. Christ-like love looks at another person and says “What burdens do they have that I can help them bear?” “What needs do they have that I can help them meet?” “What griefs do they have that I can share?” “What trials do they have that I can help walk them through?”
How would you answer those questions in relation to people you know of in your own life?
Love is…regardless of whether the act is reciprocated
Love is never offered as a bargaining chip or as a form of negotiating a mutually beneficial agreement. Love does not look for a “return on investment.” When we act in a “I’ll scratch your back and you scratch mine” sort of way, that’s manipulation not love. Jesus died for us “while we were still sinners” even “enemies” of God. If Jesus had waited to love until we were able to reciprocate that love, we would be perpetually left in a state of “unloved.”
Where are you withholding or being stingy with love because the person isn’t reciprocating the love like you’d hoped they would?
Love is…regardless of whether the person is deserving
One of the most precious realities about Christ’s love toward us is that there is nothing we could do to merit it and we have done everything to demerit it, yet he has freely lavished his love upon us. What ought to separate a Christian’s love from the love that the world shows is that our love extends even to our enemies, those who are actively hostile and opposed to us.
How can you show tangible love to someone in your life who is “undeserving”?
May the Spirit abundantly produce the sweet fruit of Christ-like love in your heart and life.
[1] This definition and some of the explanations are borrowed and adapted from Paul Tripp, What Did You Expect?, p. 188-189.
