By Mark A. Horne
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ~ Galatians 5:22-23
There is a thought that language loses precision
over time. Where a word once had a specific meaning, it gets used so much for
expressing one’s thoughts and feelings over everything that it is so diluted
of connotation that it has no effect on another person’s hearing or heart.
Think about it. Do you love your spouse as you love pizza? Do you
love God in the same way as you love your favorite pet? Lois Lowry
metaphorically touches on this point in her book, The Giver[1]
when she authors a discussion between the main character, Jonas, and his
parents.
“Do you love me?” There was an awkward silence for a moment. Then Father gave a little chuckle. “Jonas. You, of all people. Precision of language, please!” “What do you mean?” Jonas asked. Amusement was not at all what he had anticipated. “Your father means that you used a very generalized word, so meaningless that it’s become almost obsolete,” his mother explained carefully. Jonas stared at them. Meaningless? He had never before felt anything as meaningful as the memory. “And of course our community can’t function smoothly if people don’t use precise language. You could ask, ‘Do you enjoy me?’ The answer is ‘Yes,'” his mother said. “Or,” his father suggested, “‘Do you take pride in my accomplishments?’ And the answer is wholeheartedly ‘Yes.'” “Do you understand why it’s inappropriate to use a word like ‘love’?” Mother asked. Jonas nodded. “Yes, thank you, I do,” he replied slowly.
It was his first lie to his parents.”
As we continue our study of the fruits of the Spirit, we come to our first fruit, love. We will first need to understand the biblical meaning of love. Then we will see how love leads the way for the other fruits listed by Paul in these two verses. Finally, we must realize that love is a choice that flows from the heart.
First, let’s consider the definition of love. As we meditate on this word and its many places found in Scripture, we come to realize that the Bible does not define love. It illustrates it.[2] We understand that love is a virtue that gives energy to faith as Paul writes in Galatians 5:6, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.” How could one define that which, in its purity, is what God is? “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8). Love is all that bears His image, which is too infinite and eternal for a human to comprehend. The word love in our passage is agape in the Greek text, divine love. It is unconditional and sacrificial (1 John 4:8,16). Martin Luther states, “It might have been enough to have said “love,” and no more; for love extends itself into all the fruits of the Spirit. “Consider what Charles Hodge says concerning the meaning of love, “It is peculiarly characteristic of the spirit of the gospel that turns the heart towards others, and away from their own interests. Self is not the Christian center; men are loved because they are men, Christians because they are Christians; the former with sincere sympathy and benevolence, the latter with brotherly affection. The happiness and feelings of others, the gospel teaches us to consult in small, as well as in great matters, anticipating each other in all acts of kindness and attention.”[3]
This leads us then to understand that love leads the way for the other fruits.[4] The first of the graces is agape love, which is greater than hope and faith (1 Corinthians 13:13). Love is the fruit that is produced in the heart from the initial working of the Holy Spirit where all other graces then follow, “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). It is a grace that leads the way to care for others who may not even love us (1 John 4:7-8). Love also leads the way in the covenant relationship God has with us, which then flows out of us to others. God reminds us to do to others what He has sacrificially done for us; that through His Son, Jesus Christ, He loved us. And he places that kind of love as a priority for us to mirror to others. We seek the benefit of the other who is loved, which often means death to self.
Finally, once we understand the precise meaning of love, and that it is the leader of all other graces, then we can understand that it is a choice which flows from one’s heart. The motivation for making the choice of love is not for one to receive superficial appearance, or emotional attraction, or sentimental relationship from another. Also, it is not based upon feeling good about another person or having comfortableness in a relationship where there is a physical bond with someone. We must understand that love does not depend on what the world says love is or should be. As MacArthur tells us, “Love is an attitude of selflessness. Biblical agape love is a matter of the will and not a matter of feeling or emotion, though deep feelings and emotions almost always accompany love…. We can only love as Christ loves when He has free reign in our hearts…When the Spirit empowers our lives and Christ is obeyed as the Lord of our hearts, our sins and weaknesses are dealt with and we find ourselves wanting to serve others, wanting to sacrifice for them and serve them—because Christ’s loving nature has truly become our own. Loving is the supernatural attitude of the Christian, because love is the nature of Christ.”[5]
In summary, love’s perfect expression on earth is the
Lord, Jesus Christ. He showed this sacrificial love when He left heaven, came
to earth, took on human nature yet lived a perfectly righteous life, was
crucified in the most humiliating and painful way. He loved His elect so much
that He died on the cross for them. It is impossible for the unconverted to
understand and manifest this kind of love. Therefore, love doesn’t have any
precision in our western culture today. This is the reason Lowry can write so
brilliantly a non-satirical conversation about not even using the word love with
which we can identify. Furthermore, it is impossible for the believer to
demonstrate in his or her life by one’s own strength. Love can only be
accomplished in one’s heart and shown to others by the indwelling and
empowerment of the Holy Spirit. The believer that has this divine grace within
(Colossians 1:27) will progressively manifest it more and more as fruits of the
Holy Spirit by our obedience to God’s Word.
[1] Lowry, Lois. The Giver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993.
[2] Sanderson, John W., The Fruit of the Spirit, Philipsburg, P&R Publishing, 1985, 49.
[3] Ibid, 59.
[4] Spurgeon, CH. Sermon: The Fruit of the Spirit, Love.
[5] MacArthur, John: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Ephesians. 1986. Chicago: Moody Press.
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