Love: Fruit of the Spirit Part 2

“But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

This list of traits that flow out of a Spirit-filled Christian begins with the word love. Love is a somewhat nebulous and relative term in our modern society, used towards anything from our favorite food to a family member, spouse, or child. But what does the Bible mean when it says that the fruit of the Spirit is love?

This is a case where a look at the original Greek word gives us a fuller understanding of what is meant. The Greek word used is Agape, a very specific word in the Greek language. John Phillips explains,

“Agape is the spontaneous love, love irrespective of ‘rights.’ It is the word commonly used in the New Testament to describe the matchless love of God.”*

In fact, agape is the word translated “charity” throughout the New Testament. It appears in Romans 5:8, which says,

“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

The verb form of this same word is used in Ephesians 5:25.

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it”

Agape love is the self-sacrificing love Christ has for sinners, the love that moved Him to willingly bear the pain and suffering of the cross, rejoicing in the redemption it would accomplish on behalf of His beloved ones.

This kind of love is an attribute of God, a key element of who He is. 1 John 4:8 tells us this when it states that God is love. God doesn’t just show or feel love, He is love. We can no more separate God from the love that defines Him than we can His holiness, omnipotence, justice, or mercy. The attributes of God are not individual pieces of His character, they are facets of the glorious whole of His nature.

There are some attributes God cannot share with His human creatures, such as His omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience. However, there are some attributes He calls us to reflect through the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through us. Theologians call these “sharable” attributes communicable. Love is one of those communicable attributes which God desires to share with us.

Now, all this theological knowledge is good, but you may be asking, So how do I love like God does? We love, quite simply, by obeying God. Note the following passages:

“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” Romans 13:8-10

“But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him.”(1 John 4:5)

These two passages clearly teach that we know that we are in Christ when we show His love to others, and that this agape love is shown by obedience to God’s commands. This is partly why love is considered to be the root of all the other characteristics listed as fruit of the Spirit.

If you were to compare the description of charity (agape love) in 1 Corinthians 13 with the other characteristics listed as fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22, you would see quite a bit of overlap. Many of the descriptions of charity could easily be used to define or describe the other characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit. At the beginning of 1 Corinthians 13, just before the description of charity, we find these verses:

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” (vv.1-3)

You see, agape love is essential to anything we “do” in our Christian walk. Just as we cannot separate God’s other attributes from His love, so the Christian cannot separate joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, or temperance from love. A heart of Christlike love is the foundation upon which all the other characteristics are built.

What will it look like to love as God loves? Our obedience to the Holy Spirit will cause us to show love to others in practical ways. The description of charity from 1 Corinthians 13 is a good passage to use to check our thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and actions and see if we are allowing the Holy Spirit to bring forth fruit in our hearts and lives.

“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth.” (vv.4-8a)

If you’re at all like me, you found at least a few things on that list you could be doing better. The important thing to remember about these characteristics is that we do not have to make them happen ourselves: we simply yield to the Holy Spirit, and He gives us the power to obey. We can only love as God loves by yielding to the Spirit.

It is also important to remember that each moment is a new opportunity to obey. We always have the option of growing in Christ, of loving better, yielding more to the Holy Spirit. That is why Paul said,

“And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgement; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.” (Philippians 1:9-11)

Love, like the rest of the fruit of the Spirit, will grow, abound, and fill our hearts and lives as we choose to yield to the Holy Spirit.

 Now, how about you? Will you choose to yield to the Spirit today?

*Phillips, John Exploring Galatians: an Expository Commentary. Kregel publications: Grand Rapids 2004.