And he has given us
this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
1 John 4:21
By remaining in the Spirit, the good Book says. The wise
words of Galatians 5:22-23 paint the perfect word picture: the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. You don’t have to be
much of a horticulturist to realize you can’t tie fruit onto the branches of a
tree and call it a fruit tree. Apples, oranges, lemons, and peaches are all
produced and ripened from the sap that runs deep within. Holy agape love is the
fruit of the Spirit, not the fruit of me. I am merely a branch on the tree
(John 15:5).
It is widely accepted that all the remaining fruit of the
Spirit in that list stem from the first, agape
love. And if we surrender to the Spirit’s love in us, the rest will come
naturally. Somewhere along the way the following has come my way:
For the Fruit of the Spirit is: LOVE
JOY which is love smiling.
PEACE
which is love resting.
PATIENCE
which is love waiting.
KINDNESS
which is love showing itself
sensitive to others’ feelings.
GOODNESS
which is love making allowances and
sacrifices for others.
FAITHFULNESS
which is love proving constant.
GENTLENESS
which is love yielding.
SELF-CONTROL
which is love triumphing over
selfish inclinations.
See what I mean. If you are gushing with agape, you will be
able to love the unlovely.
And the end result will be that people will love you back. Not
so fast. The end result has to be that people will love Jesus back since they
will know it is God’s love overflowing through you. Jesus said to love as He
loved so all men will recognize the source of your love: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so
you must have love for one another. By this all men will know that you are my
disciples, if you love one another” John 13:34-35).
Amazing! Rare, sacrificial, unconditional, lavish agape
love, alive in you and in me, glorifies Jesus. Let it overflow ladies.
Nancy P
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