THE LOVE OF GOD
The greatest of these is love. —I Corinthians 13:13
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance (I Corinthians 13:4-7).
The world, the flesh and the devil are unloving, impatient, unkind, jealous, boastful, proud and rude. They demand their own way, are irritable, keep record of wrongs, rejoice in injustice, do not rejoice when truth wins out. They give up, lose faith, are not hopeful and don’t endure every circumstance. Yes, this is what the world, the flesh and the devil look like.
Fellow follower of Jesus the Holy Spirit of God resides in you and I and the fruit He bears in us is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). Followers of Jesus should be a stark contrast to those of this world and those living according to the flesh. We should be ‘“blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky”’ (Philippians 2:15).
Now as Jesus’ followers we are not to allow sin to dominate us. Instead we are to “offer every part of (ourselves) to him as an instrument of righteousness” (Genesis 4:7; Romans 6:11-14). So let us be like Jesus and “love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit” (I John 4:7-13). Yes, this is what the Spirit of God produces in those who have trusted the Son of God to the glory of God our Father—- love! May it be so!
Dear Father, help me today to love like Jesus loves, to allow the Holy Spirit to produce this type of love in and through me as I walk through this day. May it be so!