In Galatians 5, the fruit of the Spirit is contrasted with works of the flesh. There is a deeper mystery here, the works are in plural but the fruit is singular. There are many explanations to this but my understanding is that works are things we do while the fruit is something we become. And the fruit is the very character of God. Over the next few weeks were are going to look at the various components (for lack of a better word) of the fruit of the Spirit. So today we will look at love.

What is love?

I recently discussed with a friend on the topic of love. Asking ourselves question like, “what is love?”, “how do we love?”, “is love a feeling?” and more. But even in our areas of disagreement, the one thing we agreed on is that no one can love truly without God. So instead of asking “what is love?” the better question would be “who is love?”

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

1 John 4:8 NIV

The Bible has a lot to say about love, in fact, I would say it’s a love story. It is a story of how God loved us and demonstrated His love for us over and over to the culmination at Calvary. Therefore, the love we should focus on is not our imperfect love for God or our mostly selfish love for one another but on the perfect love Yahweh has poured out on us. Jesus says in John 15:9 that He loves us with the same love that the Father loves Him.

God’s nature and love

Living in a Muslim country I understand some doctrines of Islam. The most important one is Tawheed, which is the indivisible oneness concept of monotheism in Islam. This doctrine is contrasted with the Trinity. Yahweh, unlike Allah, is a Triune God. Which means that He exists as one in being but three in person. I know you’re probably wondering why I brought this up so let me explain. If God is a monad (i.e. exists as a unity instead of the Trinity) then there was a time before, He created anything, was all alone and did not have anyone or anything to love or to love Him. But if God is Triune, then since eternity past, the three members of the Godhead have been in relation bond together by perfect love. So Yahweh doesn’t need His creation to be loving, He is love from eternity past to eternity.

While we were still His enemies, Christ died for us. I would probably give my life for my family and maybe my friends, but my enemies? This is the God we serve. Jesus leaves ninety-nine sheep in the open field and goes looking for one that was lost. The point here is not the ninety-nine, because we all lose our way at one point, the point is how much He values the one. Have you seen or heard of a greater love than these? And not only does Jesus go looking for the one, but when He finds it He greatly rejoices.

How can we love?

The love God has for us cannot end or stop because it is who He is and God cannot change. In the same way, love is not something we do but someone we become. We can’t live out love the way Christ has commanded us and that is why we have been given the Holy Spirit.

A farmer plants his seed, waters the ground and then adds fertilizer. But it is God who makes the plant to grow not the farmer. In the same way, it is God’s who makes the fruit of the Spirit to be found in us. All we can do is create the right atmosphere. We create the right atmosphere by spending time with God, in His Word and in prayer. And slowly we are transformed and renewed to conform to His image, bearing the fruit of the Spirit.

In conclusion, I’ll take you back to John 15:9, not only does Jesus assure us that He loves us with perfect love, but He also commands us to abide in His love. Oh, how great is God’s love and we abide in His love by never forgetting how deeply He loves us. Otherwise, condemnation and guilt will overwhelm us. Abiding in His love will also make our joy to be complete because we will not look at ourselves or our feeble performance but on Christ and His perfect love.

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:2 NIV