The Fruit of the Spirit is Love

(Taken from my book, "IDENTIFYING GOD". To order a copy, or for more information contact me at edhan362@yahoo.com) C.S. Lewis in his book The Four Loves, called "agape" an unconditional love not dependent on any lovable qualities that one possessed. This amounts to caring for others regardless of the circumstances. Lewis went on to say that "agape" was the greatest of all loves. "Agape" then is God's love acting on our nature and flowing from Him, through us by the Holy Spirit. "Agape" is seldom used outside of the New Testament in the ancient Greek language. But in the New Testament, it is the primary word for love.Jesus said in John 13:35, "By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love (agape) one to another." The love (agape) that Jesus taught and lived went even deeper than that. He said ?
"Love (agape) your neighbor." (Mat. 5:43)
"Love (agape) your enemy." (Mat. 5:44)
"Love (agape) the Lord thy God." (Mat. 22:37)
"Love (agape) one another." (Joh. 13:34)
"Love (agape) Me (Jesus)." (Joh. 14:15)

Doesn't that cover just about everybody? We, in the Spirit of Christ, are commanded by Jesus to love (agape) everyone, even our enemies. "? Bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you" (Mat. 5:44). Now that's a tall order. All that we can say is, "Holy Spirit, help us to love with God's love!"We see this selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love (agape) in Jesus when He said, "Greater love (agape) hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (Joh. 15:13). Paul took this statement a step further by saying, "For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love (agape) toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:7-8). This is the sacrificial love (agape) of Jesus toward us. Even when we were enemies of God, Jesus died to save us, deliver us and heal us!

I grew up with a grandmother who understood and lived unconditional love (agape) before my eyes. But she didn't start out that way. She was living in Indiana, when she answered the call to go and cook at a rescue mission in California. She responded dutifully by selling all that she had to make the trip and get started. When she got off the plane, my father (who was 15 at the time, and had gone before her)said, "Momma, you're going to have to change your ways. You're too proud." This bothered her as she thought of all she had given up to answer God's call.On the drive from the airport to the mission she had imagined serving in one of the beautiful Spanish missions of California. Then they pulled up in front of the rescue mission.The place that she saw looked like an old Indiana barn that needed painting. None the less, they showed her to her room, and let her know that services would begin at 6 p.m.Grandmother got all dressed up like "Kelsey's pet horse" and went down to the chapel for the evening service. She took a front row seat. A little before six o'clock they opened the doors. Homeless men came pouring in the door from the street to sit through the "ear beating" (that's what they called the sermon), before they could get some hot food. About 200 men crowded into a room that sat 150. They smelled of stale wine and perspiration. Grandmother prayed, "Surely God, you have made your first mistake. You would not want me in a place like this."At testimony time in the service my father stood and shared, "I thought skid row was a place, geographically speaking. But I found out that it was really a condition of the heart. I found skid row in my 15 year-old heart, and I knew I needed Jesus."When the service was over, grandmother went back to here room and knelt down beside an old broken down davenport, and surrendered her will to Jesus. She said to God, "If you want me to stay here you are going to have to give me your love, because I don't have what it takes."

God agreed by giving her some immediate instructions. Her assignment was to stand at that door before the evening service and shake the hand of every man that attended. That is how she earned the reputation as "Mom of Skid Row." Her expressions of affection, good will and benevolence followed her ministry for over 25 years, until she went home to be with the Lord.The Holy Spirit wants to grow a "I Corinthians 13" kind of love (agape) in all of us.(Taken from my book, "IDENTIFYING GOD". To order a copy, or for more information contact me at edhan362@yahoo.com)
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