Defining Love by examples

Can I play with your mind a little? Nothing dangerous. No hypnotism. Just an intersection in traditional thought streams to see something in a different or fresh way.

Fruit of the Spirit Quote

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Galatia, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23a). The twist I want you to think about is simply putting a colon instead of a comma after love. The original manuscripts had few punctuation marks. Inserting the colon changes love from being the beginning of a list to being the identified fruit. The list after the colon then defines love by examples.

JOY

See it as love dancing. An example of this is King David when he danced before the returning Ark of the Covenant. He humbled himself, removing his kingly robe and stately garments, and danced with all his might at the head of the procession. His joy over having the Ark returned to Jerusalem, brought near to him, was boundless. We see David’s love for God in his joy.

PEACE

See it as love resting. I have wasted so much time trying to have that perfect love that casts out fear. I struggled to somehow make my love stronger. Repeatedly, my responses to circumstances failed to fit into the what-would-Jesus-do image. Then I realize Jesus and His perfect love covers and surrounds me. I can’t and should stop trying to add anything to His perfection. I can rest in Him.

LONGSUFFERING

See it as patiently knowing that He makes all things beautiful in His time. Perhaps the most difficult expression of the fruit of love, patience requires trust, faith, and the knowledge and understanding that God’s love is working. Even when we don’t see it, He is working.

KINDNESS

See it as love reaching out to impart encouragement and comfort. Sometimes Jesus put emphasis on this depiction of love. He said loving our neighbors was like the first and greatest commandment: love God with all our hearts, soul, mind, and strength. He then added that these two commandments alone, if obeyed, fulfill all the law and prophets. To help us understand that concept, He gave us the parable of the Good Samaritan.

GOODNESS

See it as pure motives. In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He listed seven attributes that are blessed, one being “Blessed are the pure in spirit for they shall see God.” For our goodness to be an image of God’s fruit in our lives, we must reach beyond simply being a good person. We must have no hidden motives in what we say or do—no selfish motivation or gain. That purity comes from love being perfected in us.

FAITHFULNESS

See it as love answering in love. One aspect of a faithful friend is the ability to count on them to be there when you need them, to do what they said they would do. Take that to an infinite level when we think of our heavenly Father’s love and faithfulness. Thankfully, this also does not require our ability to change ourselves through self-help courses. It is part of the fruit of love, fruit of the Spirit given to us to pass along to others along our way.

GENTLENESS

See it as love hugging. My fourth-grade teacher embarrassed me years later as she told those with me I once told her I loved hugging her because she was soft. Gentleness in the Spirit is like a soft hug. Those hugs are most appreciated when preceded or accompanied by correction or reproof.

SELF-CONTROL

See it as love putting others first. A young father I know is posting celebrations of another day without alcohol. Recently, he posted a photo of his children and said when temptation came heavy that day, they were the reason he didn’t drink. He found the secret of loving others more than his own desires or comfort.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, and to help us get an understanding of what that means, Paul gave us eight vantage points from which to view it. With it, he gave the assurance that it’s not ours. The Holy Spirit within us is the wellspring to dip our cups in to share a cup of cold water with others in the name of Jesus.

Charles Huff

Charles Huff is a Bible teacher, minister, speaker, husband, father and grandfather. He and his wife have held pastors seminars and taught in various churches, including remote mountain churches in the Philippines. His writing has appeared in www.christiandevotions.us, The Upper Room; articles in three anthologies: Gifts from Heaven: True Stories of Miraculous Answers to Prayer compiled by James Stuart Bell; Short and Sweet Too and Short and Sweet Takes a Fifth, both compiled by Susan Cheeves King.

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