3. Where do we start? Love

The first fruit in our list is love. Each of us has a deep human need for love, whether we realize it or not. Failure to thrive (grow in a normal way) in young children can be a result of lack of love (Stanhope R, Wilks Z, Hamill G. Failure to grow: lack of food or lack of love? Prof Care Mother Child. 1994 Nov-Dec;4(8):234-7. PMID: 8680203.) Believer and non-believer, we look for love in many places. We long for it.

As believers, we want the world to see and experience the love of God through us. The apostle John wrote, "No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us (1 John 4:12). As Jesus prayed in the garden just before his arrest and crucifixion, he said, "Righteous Father . . . I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them" (John 17:25-26) 

But I can relate with Paul, who said, "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." (Romans 7:15-20, NLT). Paul recognizes our human struggle to put the love of God into practice in our lives when we're trying to do this on our own, because as humans, we are drawn to sin. When we became spiritual children of God, He gave His Spirit to live in us and change our hearts. Not only are we forgiven of our sin, but we have a way to grow in our characters to become the people God wants us to be. "So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace." (8:6)  I strongly encourage you to read Romans 6-8, in a modern speech translation, as further background.

Starting with Love, we're going to look at what the Bible says about love in order to cultivate that fruit in our lives, through lessons on:

  1. Loving Jesus
  2. Loving God's Family
  3. Loving Your Neighbour
  4. Love That Forgives
  5. Loving with Your Words
  6. Love That Lasts


Study 1. Loving Jesus 

The questions are drawn from Fruit of the Spirit, LePeau et al (2013).

Question: Think about a person who has "fallen in love." How are his or her attitudes, priorities, and other relationships affected?

Read: Luke 7:36-50 and think about the setting. 

Question: In what ways does the woman demonstrate lavish love to Jesus?

(Painting: Forgiven, by Daniel F. Gerhartz)



[In progress]





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