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Monday, April 22, 2013

Fruity Spirits Day 1: Love

LOVE never fails
[ photo source ]


Fruity Spirits Introduction:  Over the course of the next nine days we will be walking through Galatians 5:22-23 which talks about the fruit of the Spirit:  "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."  If you counted the same way I did that's nine "fruits" of the spirit, and since we're blogging for the next nine days...you guessed it...we will be elaborating on one "fruit" each day.  Today we kick things off with the first "fruit"....love!  

What is love? What does it mean to love?  What does it look like to truly love?

Love can be described using a lot of different words like commitment, chemistry, longing, etc. 

Biblically speaking there's no better way to describe it than this:

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails."  - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

There is no better story of love than the act of God found in the Bible.  "This is how God showed his love among us:  He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live, through him.  This is love:  not that we loved God, but the he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." - 1 John 4:9-10 

If THAT doesn't speak true love to you then take a moment to flip through the pages of your Bible and view story after story of how Jesus loved.  Talk about endless love!

God's love is a love that never fails, never goes away, and is endless.  

So how do we love like God?  How do we embrace this whole "loving" thing as part of one of the fruits of the spirit? 

May I suggest you go back and re-read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 again.  

Ephesians 5:2 says "And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

You've heard it before...WWJD...let's think WWJD when it comes to the question of asking how to love more like God.  

"And now these three remain:  faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these is love." 
- 1 Cortinthians 13:13 

To go along with 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 and defining what love looks like here's a great way to wrap it all up - make sure you listen:  


...And make sure to remember that love never fails, God is love, and God NEVER fails!

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."
- Galatians 5:22-23 

Want more on love?  Check out this previous post all about love by clicking HERE. 

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