Galatians 5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit is…love.
Martin Luther wrote, “It would have been enough to mention only the single fruit of love, for love embraces all the fruits of the Spirit.” It’s a true statement, of course, but in today’s world we throw the term “love” around like a five-dollar bill. I love ice cream! I love that movie! I love working out! I love walking in the park! You get the point.
Love translates the ancient Greek word agape. In that language there were four distinct words for “love.” Eros was the word for romantic or passionate love. Philia was the word for the love we have for those near and dear to us (family or friends). Storge is the word for the love that shows itself in affection and care, especially family affection. But agape describes a different kind of love. It is a love more of decision than of the spontaneous heart; as much a matter of the mind than the heart, because it chooses to love the undeserving. This kind of love can’t be put into words and it won’t show up in a greeting card—it’s far too meaningful for that.
Someone once wrote that love is the fountainhead and well spring of all other virtues: Joy is love exulting. Peace is love resting. Patience is love enduring. Kindness is love with bowed head. Goodness is love in action. Faithfulness is love confiding. Gentleness is love in refinement Self-Control is love obeying. Jesus summed up the entire Law in two short phrases that are anchored in love—Love the Lord and Love your Neighbor. It’s a tall order when you understand the depth of the word, but just a passing fancy when you have adopted the world’s definition.
Spurgeon wrote that, “Love is a very practical virtue, and yet it is so rich and rare that God alone is its author. None but a heavenly power can produce it; the love of the world is sorry stuff. True love, real love for God and others, comes out of a man because it is in him, wrought within by the operation of the Holy Ghost, whose fruit it is. The outcome of regenerated manhood is that a man lives no longer unto himself but for the good of others.” In a word, love is an ACTION. Mere sentimentality is a sorry excuse for this fruit—in fact, it’s an insult.
Love left Heaven for you. Love lived in poverty for you. Love rejected all temptations for you. Love spoke the Truth for you. Love endured humiliation and torture for you. Love allowed itself to be crucified for you. Love died for you…went to the grave for you…and rose from the dead for you. Love beckoned to you and offered you forgiveness, reconciliation, and eternal life.
John Newton, the writer of “Amazing Grace,” knew well of this kind of (agape) love. The former slave trader experienced a radical transformation and struggled to understand how God could love and accept a man who had done so many horrible things. Love is the answer, which is why he was able to write (and ask):
“Agape love fills the bosom with such an attitude and desire for the good of others that it propels its carrier into acts of selfless service for others without strings attached. It is never prompted by the thought of some reciprocation. It is an attitude which leads to action. Love puts others before itself, not as a means to draw attention to oneself, but for the sheer delight of manifesting devotion to Christ by serving others as Christ did. Love is the opposite of selfishness and self-centeredness. Does this quality show itself in your life?”
It’s a question we should all wrestle with.
