"But the fruit of the Spirit is love..." (Gal 5:22) Ever wondered why love was the first thing mentioned among the fruits of the Holy Spirit. One of the things I have realized and love so much about the scriptures is that even the order of writing is inspired, and usually meant to convey the deep meaning of the passage. The reason love is the first fruit is because all the other fruits stem from love. We cannot have joy, peace, goodness, faith, etc unless we have love - the love God in our hearts. Love provides the atmosphere on which the other fruits thrive. If you chose to read that passage to mean the order in which the Holy Spirit produces His fruits in us, then it would imply that the first fruit the Holy Spirit produces in our heart is LOVE. Invariably, we cannot love without the Holy Spirit. Today, we look at the role of the Holy Spirit in bringing about love in our hearts..
We are often carried away by the fact that the Holy Spirit gives us power, especially after we quote Acts 1:8 where the Bible says that we shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon us. As beautiful as the power and the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives us are, we must realize that the first work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to help us bear fruits. These fruits are not the power to heal the sick or raise the dead. The fruits the Holy Spirit bears in our lives is not speaking in tongues or empowering us to fight against the devil. The fruits the Holy Spirit bears in our lives is first love - agape!
Jesus said that there are two kinds of peace: the peace that the world gives and the one He gives (John 14:27); but He never said there were two kinds of love. This means that there is only one kind of love and that is the one that the Holy Spirit brings into our lives. The truth is, nobody can love without the help of the Holy Spirit. The thing being promoted in the movies and telenovelas is not love! There is only one love, and that is the one the Holy Spirit births in our heart. Listen to what the Holy Spirit says:
"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." (1 John 4:7, NIV)
Look at the last sentence, everyone who loves has been born of God. This means that before you can love, you must have been born of God. And being born of God involves being born of the water and the Spirit (John 3:5)
Friend, it is impossible to live and operate in the level of love that God wants you to unless you let the Holy Spirit take over. We must surrender our will, intentions and emotions to the leading of the Holy Spirit so that He can birth true love in us. God wants us to love, and for this reason we have the Holy Spirit. embrace Him!
Prayer
Holy Spirit, please take over my heart and life and help me to live in love in Jesus name. Amen.