But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. (Galatians 5: 22-26 NIV)
So, just what is love, and how to we obtain it? How do we express it? Where does it come from? Amazingly, there is one very simple answer to every single question listed here: Jesus Christ.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:7-11 ESV)
As I sit here right now, thinking of how many directions this message can go in and praying for guidance, it strikes me of how vast a topic love really is. So many things could be said about it that not even one thousand books devoted solely to this topic could cover the entire thing. So what is so important about love that out of all the thousands of pages that could be written on the subject, one can be chosen to be written about here? Again, the answer is simply this - Jesus.
Rather than go in depth on all the characteristics of love (1 Corinthians 13 is a good place to start for those of you who would like to do this, by the way) I would like to simply point you to Jesus. There is no greater portrait of love than that of our Lord hanging on a cross, being mocked and tortured by those He came to save, yet enduring until the end all for the sake of we sinfully depraved people. Such selflessness simply amazes me. As we see from Jesus, love is the decision to act in the best interest of others, and it is perfectly demonstrated at the cross where the King of Kings and Lord of Lords left His seamless robe behind and came to earth to offer us forgiveness, redemption, salvation - and love.
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. (John 15:13 ESV)
So for this Valentine's Day, whether you're spending it with your sweetheart or not, I would encourage you to pray to the Lord for this kind of love. Let us pray for the love of Christ to dwell within our hearts so that we might truly love one another as He Himself loved us. And the amazing part of this is that as we learn to love one another and give of ourselves for each others' benefit, we ourselves are given joy of all things (perhaps not that very moment, but joy nonetheless). How amazing is that! However, we'll talk more about this tomorrow. Have a great Valentines Day everyone!
Blessings,
Andrew
