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The fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives is the evidence of His presence. Galatians 5:22<\/p>\nThe fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives is the evidence of His presence. Galatians 5:22<\/p>\n
The first characteristic of the fruit of the spirit to be mentioned is love.<\/p>\n
22\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>But the fruit\u00a0of the Spirit is love<\/u><\/strong>,\u00a0joy, peace,\u00a0forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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1 John 4:7-8<\/span><\/p>\n
7<\/strong><\/a>Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.\u00a08<\/strong><\/a>Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
According to C.S Lewis, there are four commonly recognized types of love, namely; Philia (friendly bond), Storge (empathy, natural family bond), Eros (Erotic or romantic bond) and Agape (unconditional love) (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Four_Loves)<\/p>\n
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We are focusing on Agape, the God-kind of love in this conversation.<\/p>\n
God is love. That is His nature. Love is who He is.<\/p>\n
We as humans made in the likeness of God have been endowed with love in our spirits.<\/p>\n
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We are empowered to love as God does.<\/p>\n
Colossians 3:12-14<\/p>\n
12\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Therefore, as God\u2019s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves\u00a0with compassion, kindness, humility,\u00a0gentleness and patience.\u00a013\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Bear with each other\u00a0and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.14\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>And over all these virtues put on love,\u00a0which binds them all together in perfect unity.<\/u><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Love is first and the chief virtue we must exhibit. It so important in the scheme of our spiritual well-being that every other character,<\/p>\n
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gift or act will only be acceptable in the context of love. Love must be the foundation and it is the cement that holds our spiritual structure in place.<\/p>\n
13\u00a0<\/strong>If I speak in the tongues[a<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.\u00a02\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>If I have the gift of prophecy\u00a0and can fathom all mysteries\u00a0and all knowledge,\u00a0and if I have a faith\u00a0that can move mountains,\u00a0but do not have love, I am nothing.\u00a03\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>If I give all I possess to the poor\u00a0and give over my body to hardship that I may boast<\/u>,[b<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0but do not have love, I gain nothing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The God-kind of love is a call to a higher standard of living. To obey this call, a believer must be ready to live beyond the normal, carnal, sensual or instinctive level of behavior.<\/p>\n
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4\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Love is patient,\u00a0love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.\u00a05\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,\u00a0it is not easily angered,\u00a0it keeps no record of wrongs.\u00a06\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Love does not delight in evil\u00a0but rejoices with the truth.\u00a07\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.<\/p>\n
Each of these attributes would warrant a study on their own and I encourage you to take out some time to find out what they mean.<\/p>\n
If you focus on love, you have pretty much everything needed covered.<\/p>\n
Jesus said the way the world will identify and distinguish his disciples in His absence is by their living out the love nature of God in them.<\/p>\n
34<\/a><\/strong>\u201cA new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.35<\/a><\/strong>By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Love is a key requirement and a key character, we all need to work on ourselves to live it out.<\/p>\n
The reason why this is so difficult to do is because living out the Love of God is so contrary to the human nature.<\/p>\n
The human nature is sinful and it is so selfish (the human nature seeks after self-interest first), the human nature is so impatient and finds it difficult to wait for anything or anyone. We especially live in an age of instant gratification and quick fixes. The human nature is proud and seeks recognition and respect from others at all costs. The human nature is competitive and comparative, it judge other so quickly and would always want to be first. When he does not have his way or someone else seems to be doing better he is full of envy and jealousy, keeps records of wrongs and finds it difficult to forgive. Finds fault easily and would argue loudly and fiercely to make his voice heard above everyone else\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Love is not self-seeking and is not easily angered \u2013 not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoings but rejoices with the truth. You are not showing the love of Christ to a thief when you rejoice with him about his loot and you join in to enjoy the stolen goods instead of calling him out on it.<\/p>\n
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. Which means love is always positive about other believers.<\/p>\n
It is almost impossible to live out Agape love, except by the nature and grace of God in us. That\u2019s another occasion when the confession \u2018I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me\u2019 comes in handy. We walk in the spirit and not by the flesh.<\/p>\n
We are not perfect yet and will never be until Jesus comes but we can keep improving as we consciously walk in love. Don\u2019t say \u2018that\u2019s who I am, I am a very plain person and small things make me angry and when I am mad I must express myself\u2019. You have to learn to use your self-control which is another fruit of the spirit. Joy, peace,\u00a0forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and gentleness are powerful companions to love in the fruit of the spirit. Let us put them to use and our engine will become better for it. We will produce better fruits for God by so doing.<\/p>\n
God bless you.<\/p>\n
‘Laolu Oyeyemi<\/p>\n
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The fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives is the evidence of His presence. Galatians 5:22 The first characteristic of the fruit of the spirit to be mentioned is love. 22\u00a0But the fruit\u00a0of the Spirit is love,\u00a0joy, peace,\u00a0forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 1 John 4:7-8 7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love … Continue reading Focus on the Engine (2) – The God-kind of Love<\/span>