The Power To Love

“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”  Matthew 22:37-40

As Jesus explained all the Old Testament law was based on love.  In Romans 13:8-10 Paul says that love is the fulfillment, the ultimate goal of the law.  “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.  For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”

Unfortunately, people tend to get caught up in the mechanical details of those laws, and forget about having the proper attitude,  because, as Galatians 3:10 tells us, “… as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.  ”As we saw in I Corinthians 13:1-3, without the proper attitude, even the actions that seem most loving become meaningless.  Fortunately, Christ freed us from that old slavery as Galatians 3:13-14 tells us.  “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”  Because we are free from that law, we are free to concentrate on the proper attitude rather than the mechanics of following the law, according to Romans 7:6.  “But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.”

For the natural man, such an attitude is difficult to maintain, but when we become a Christian, God gives us a new attitude or spirit, as II Corinthians 5:17-18 tells us.  “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;”

 In John 14:16-17, Jesus promised, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”  Romans 8:9 warns, “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”  The Holy Spirit produces that new attitude or spirit in our heart, according to Galatians 5:22-23.  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

As we look at the fruit of the Spirit, we realize in not produces that spirit of love itself, but it produces several other attitudes in our heart as well.  Let’s look at them more closely.

love,                       We looked at love rather closely in the previous post on Godly Love

joy,                        An attitude of enjoying and taking pleasure in your life and the things around you. 

Peace,                   An attitude of contentment , of not being upset about things.

 longsuffering,  Patiently enduring problems without giving up or getting angry

gentleness,          Going out of one’s way to avoid hurting others either physically or emotionally   

 goodness,          An attitude of always doing the right thing

faith,                     Believing and trusting God even regardless of circumstances

Meekness,          Not focused on one’s own  feelings, desires, needs, or goals.   

temperance:      Able to control themselves

When we allow the Holy Spirit to control us, to “walk in the Spirit,” these attitudes will come natural to us.  We will not have to force ourselves to do them.     God is love, and the power to love in a godly manner comes from him.