Love Is the Fruit of the Holy Spirit
David W Palmer
(Galatians 5:22–23 DKJV) “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and temperance.”
Here, the meaning of love is further clarified for us in the “fruit of the Spirit.” That is, the fruit that the Holy Spirit will produce in our lives if we walk in the spirit; if we follow the Holy Spirit in faith, love, obedience, and truth, love and holiness will grow in our lives. The context of this verse is a passage where the apostle Paul is showing the difference between following the flesh and following the Holy Spirit:
(Galatians 5:16 NKJV) “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
He explains that the fruit, or result, of following the flesh is all kinds of sin, but that the fruit of walking in the [Holy] spirit is love, joy, and peace, etc. We can see from this that following the Holy Spirit is how you operate in love, and how you avoid fulfilling the sinful, lustful desires of the flesh. (Remember: the Holy Spirit—operating in conjunction with our born again human spirit—will always lead you in line with his word.)
Love is the greatest
(1 Corinthians 13:13 NKJV) “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
A crucial part of the definition of love, it could be said, comes from this verse: “love is the greatest!” These are the words of God; we must realize this, accept it, and walk in it. This is why Jesus expects us to walk in love; nothing is greater than love:
(John 13:34 ESV) “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”
Let’s receive Jesus’s commandment to love as a real command; it’s not an optional extra (See: Mark 12:30, John 13:34). Thankfully, obedience to it has many wonderful benefits.
(Mark 12:29–31 NLT) Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘… {30} And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ {31} The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
God is love
(1 John 4:8 NKJV) “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
(1 John 4:16 NKJV) “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”
This really clarifies and sums up an understanding of what love is— “God is love!” Everything and anything to do with God is about love.
In the Bible, we see love in action; we see God creating a perfect environment and then initiating and building relationships with people. Consequently, we understand love’s proactive inventiveness and leadership. We also see God responding to a variety of situations, and therefore know how love responds. We see Jesus in action—healing, forgiving, teaching, correcting, restoring, and leading—and therefore know how love acts.
Throughout the Word, we can also see both the gentle and tough sides of love. But perhaps, the best ways we see the love of God operating unhindered is by watching Jesus through the Gospels. In him, we see God’s perfect will in action; therefore, we are seeing love in operation—in all his glory, splendor, and magnificence.
(John 13:1 NKJV) “… having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”
I encourage you today to study and watch Jesus afresh, so you can catch his love for people. Allow the wonderful Holy Spirit to open your eyes to see the “things” he has hidden for you. Pursue intimacy with him, and allow God’s love not only to be poured into you, but also to pour out through you (Rom. 5:5). Then walk in the Spirit, expecting him to lead you in love for:
