Part 2 – “Love”

Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love . . . “

The very first characteristic of the Fruit of the Spirit is listed as LOVE. In 1 Corinthians 13, which is often referred to as the Love Chapter, we are told, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” As moms we understand what it is to love, don’t we? We love our children with an intensity that we never dreamed possible and that we can’t easily put into words. Only another mother really understands the width and depth of the love that we have for our kids. In fact, we love our children so much that when one of them begins to make destructive choices or turns their back on our family we become completely overwhelmed with pain, anxiety and fear. It takes over and we tend to neglect the other people in our lives because every waking moment is filled with thinking about and worrying about the child who is hurting us.

Yes, we love our children, but I don’t think that is the kind of love that the Bible is talking about. The fruit of the Spirit encompasses the characteristics that begin to manifest in our lives as we grow and mature in our faith and in our relationship with Jesus. In Matthew 22:36-38, when Jesus was asked which is the greatest commandment he replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” WOW! I have fallen so far short of following that “greatest” commandment! I have put my children first and loved them with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my mind, in other words, above all else. What I notice is that when I fail to put God first in my life, whether I’m centered on my kids, my job, or anything other than the Lord, I am in turmoil. Anxiety, fear, anger, and just an overall feeling of unrest moves in and takes up residence in my very core.

I believe that the love that we experience when we are putting God first, the love that is mentioned as one of the nine characteristics we will display as we grow in our relationship with Jesus, is a love that covers and affects everything else in our lives. It is a love that is intertwined with peace and joy and all the other good things that God wants us to have and it is a love that allows us to have a rich, full life regardless of the circumstances around us.

As we draw closer to Jesus and we learn more about who He is and who we have been created to be, we begin to encounter and understand the kind of love the Bible talks about. We learn to put our trust in Him and our sense of well-being becomes directly connected to Him rather than to our children.

As we head into the Christmas Season, let’s decide to seek to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind. Let’s focus on the reason we celebrate at this time of year and open ourselves up to the wonderful “fruit”, that we receive when we are putting God first.

by Cathy Taylor