Friday, July 17, 2009

"..the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, lonsuffereing, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." Gal. 5:22-23



"It might have been enough to have said "love," and no more; for love extends itself into all the fruits of the Spirit. And in 1 Corinthians 13, Paul attributes to love all the fruits which are done in the Spirit, when he says: "Love is patient, courteous," etc. Notwithstanding, he would set it here by itself among the rest of the fruits of the Spirit, and in the first place, thereby to admonish the Christians that before all things they should love one another, giving honor one to another through love, every man esteeming better of another than of himself, because they have Christ and the Holy Ghost dwelling in them, and because of the Word, baptism, and other gifts of God which Christians have." -Martin Luther

And it's important we have the correct definition of love: For there are many definitions in human hearts what they feel, and think, love means.

And to understand the love God desires we understand, we need to know His Word, the Bible. It's a different love than the world's love, that's for sure. Are there similarities? Perhaps. But when the love of the Holy Spirit moves in your heart (Rom. 5:8) there's nothing in the universe quite as powerful. It's a love for Christ first and foremost. It's then a sacrificial love of husbands for their wives. And it's a love that says, "I forgive you, or please forgive me." It's a love that loves people who hate you; our enemies. And it's an eternal love, that we have only begun to taste and know, but will experience forever.

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