In Galatians 5:22-23, we read, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such, there is no law.”
I do not believe that it is a coincidence that the first fruit of the reborn human spirit is love. The Holy Spirit, who was the author of all Scripture, places love at the top of the list. This does not diminish the importance of the other fruit on the list. Instead, as we look at the other fruit, we see that they can’t operate without love. We cannot be patient or meek without love, and our faith won’t work without love. Love is the foundation of all the other fruit of the spirit.
Romans 5:5 in The New Testament: An Expanded Translation by Kenneth Wuest states, “And this hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts and still floods them through the agency of the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
At salvation, the love of God was poured out into our hearts and still floods them. What this means is that we have constant access to the love of God. This was not a one-time thing. The love of God was poured out into and still floods our hearts. But love, like any other fruit of the spirit, must be intentionally activated or walked in by the believer. We often hear people talk about walking in love, but what does it really mean to walk in love? Does it mean not getting offended? Does it mean not getting angry in traffic? Or not being impatient in a long line? It includes all of these. The real proof that we are walking in love is found in our interaction with our brother or sister.
1 John 3:14
14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.
John said the real evidence that we are walking in love was that we love our brother. Jesus said in John 15:12, “This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.” This spells it out plainly we are to love each other as Christ loved us.
How did He love us? How did Jesus prove His love? Ephesians 5:25 tells us, “Husbands love your wives, as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it.” We love by giving ourselves, by putting our wife, our husband, our brother, or sister first. Love never fails!
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