The fruit of the spirit is love…. Galatians 5:22
It shouldn’t surprise us that Paul began his description of the fruit of the Spirit with the word love. It is the supreme indicator of our spiritual health. All other aspects of our inner vitality depend on the strength of this quality.
Unfortunately, in our modern, American culture, we are often confused by what the word love means. We use the word to describe all kinds of things we love. We love our pets. We love our house. We love our car. We love our favorite foods. We love our family. On it goes. Usually, when we say that we love something, we mean that we have positive feelings about it. The object of our love contributes in some way toward our well-being. So we love it.
However, should something no longer meet our needs, our love for it will wane. So our love is conditional. For instance, we love our favorite restaurant as long as the food and service is up to our expectations. Should that change, we may not only quit loving it, we may even find a new restaurant to love.
Another misunderstanding of love is to view love as being dependent on our inner feelings. As long as the emotion is present, we act in loving ways. But if the emotion is absent, we tend to withhold our loving actions until the feeling returns.
There’s also the false notion that as long as I’m tolerating someone and not doing anything wrong or negative, then I can claim to love that person. While others may have abandoned or avoided the person in question, we congratulate ourselves that we “put up” with them, and we call it love.
The problem with all of these definitions of love is that they are highly conditional. We love “if.” If they are nice to us. If they love us in return. If they don’t get on our nerves too much. If is doesn’t demand too much from us. If. If. If.
But this is not what Paul meant when he said that the fruit of the Spirit’s premier quality is love. He used the Greek word agape. According to Precept Austin, here’s what agape means:
Biblical agape love is the love of choice, the love of serving with humility, the highest kind of love, the noblest kind of devotion, the love of the will (intentional, a conscious choice) and not motivated by superficial appearance, emotional attraction, or sentimental relationship. Agape is not based on pleasant emotions or good feelings that might result from a physical attraction or a familial bond. Agape chooses as an act of self-sacrifice to serve the recipient....Agape may involve emotion, but it must always involve action.This is the type of love God expressed toward us and is primarily demonstrated by Jesus’ death on the cross. As Romans tells us, God loved us even while we were still sinners. He loved not because we deserved it or had earned it but because we needed it. This is the type of love that first and foremost reveals the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.
So how is your level of love these days? I don’t mean how well are you loving those who are easy to love or those who are loving toward you. I’m thinking more about those who are difficult to love. These are the ones who get on your nerves, who are different from you, and who don’t return the favor. How well are you loving them?
None of us are as loving as we should and can be. So what can we do to increase our level of love. Let me suggest two things.
First, immerse your soul in the love that God has for you. Usually, our inability to love others in a Godlike way reflects a lack of appreciation for how fully and completely God has loved us. The more we realize our own unworthiness for His love and the multiple ways He has loved us despite ourselves, the more we will be empowered to love others in the same way.
Second, being intentional about acting in loving ways toward those who are difficult to love. Listen to them. Encourage them. Do acts of kindness to them. Pray for them. Perhaps in time, your love will have a transforming effect on their lives. If so, that’s a real blessing. But even if they don’t come around, your love for them will have a transforming effect on you. As you exercise your loving muscles, this aspect of the fruit of the Spirit will be strengthened as your soul becomes increasingly filled with God’s love.