Practice Love - February 21

Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends…So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Reflect

As you read today’s verse, did you spot any of the Fruits of the Spirit?

Can you name all nine of the fruits of the Spirit by now? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). The Holy Spirit works in us to produce His fruit in our lives. We receive the Holy Spirit when we place our faith in Christ. He transforms us and empowers us, allowing us to grow this spiritual fruit. But it is our job to walk in step with Spirit and put it into practice (Galatians 5:16).

It’s like physical fitness. God gave us muscles but if we want to strengthen them, we have to work them out. I want to spend time in my spiritual fitness routine focused on each and every fruit because I want Him to continue to develop all of them in me. But when I think about each one individually, it’s overwhelming. I can’t focus on all of them at once, so where should I start? Well, I am going to take Sister Maria’s advice in the Sound of Music and start at the very beginning. It’s a very good place to start, after all.

The very first fruit that the apostle Paul listed was love. Theologian Dr. Warren Wiersbe suggested that Paul began with love because “all of the other fruit is really an outgrowth of love.” He suggested that we compare Paul’s list of the fruit of the Spirit to Paul’s definition of love found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. So that’s what we are doing today.

This passage of Scripture is often referred to as the “love passage.” If you’ve attended a wedding, chances are you’ve heard these verses read aloud or even sung during the ceremony (I highly recommend checking out the song “Love Never Ends'' by the Corner Room on Spotify or YouTube. It’s a great way to memorize today’s passage of Scripture in the ESV because it is set to beautiful music).

As we read today’s love passage, we spot three fruits of the Spirit in the very first verse—love, patience, and kindness. Paul also said that love isn’t jealous, boastful, arrogant, or rude and it doesn’t insist on its own way. Not only are these behaviors unloving and unkind, but they also do not promote peace. In Romans 12:18, Paul wrote: “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” It’s unlikely that you will experience peaceful relationships if you act like a selfish, conceited, snobby, condescending, know-it-all.

Verse 7 sounds a lot like patience, gentleness, and faithfulness. When you love someone, you patiently bear with them through troubles and conflicts. When it says love “believes all things,” that means that you believe the best about someone you love. You give them the benefit of the doubt. You don’t zero in on their faults and you aren’t quick to walk away from a relationship. Rather, you are slow to anger and quick to forgive because you are humble enough to remember that you needed forgiveness yourself. You are hopeful that they will continue to learn and grow in the Lord, just as you are learning and growing in Lord.

On the flip side, love doesn’t rejoice in wrong-doing. When you truly love someone, you want God’s goodness for them. You don’t want to see them wallowing in sin. Love calls sin what it is and seeks to restore someone gently to the Lord (Galatians 6:1).

You see, all of the fruits of the Spirit fall under the umbrella of love. If you love someone, you enjoy them. You seek to be at peace with them. You patiently endure all things with them. You treat them with kindness. You want goodness and godliness for them. You are faithful and gentle with them. And, you know how to control yourself so that you don’t hurt those who you love. The place to start is with love. Practice love because love is the tie that binds.

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:12-14)..

Respond

Lord, I know that love is the place to start. If I love others the way that you’ve loved me, all of the other Fruit of the Spirit will develop out of that love. Help me to put Your love into practice. Amen.

Reveal

Prayerfully consider how you can reveal God’s heart to others by putting love into practice today.