Galatians 5:22-23
When a lawyer asked Jesus which commandment was the greatest, He said, "You
shall love the Lord your God with all you heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your mind," and "the second is like it, 'You shall love your
neighbor as yourself'" (Matt. 22:37, 39). What an overwhelming assignment!
In our own strength, none of us can live up to this obligation, but the Lord
has provided a way for Christians to do the impossible. The indwelling Holy
Spirit works to produce His fruit in us, and first on the list is love (Gal.
5:22). In fact, the other eight qualities are really just descriptions of
its expression.
Whenever we demonstrate kindness, patience, or gentleness, we see the Lord's
love at work through us, especially when the other person has been unkind
and
doesn't deserve such pleasant treatment. This fruit is not produced by
trying harder to muster good will toward someone who is irritating or hard
to get
along with. Instead, think of the process more like sap running through a
branch on a grape-vine. The branch doesn't make grapes; the sap does. In the
same way, the Spirit flows through us, producing God's love in us, so that
we can pass it on to Him and others.
Agapelove is the reason we are able to care for someone who mistreats us-it's
God's doing, not ours. Even the adoration we offer the Lord is not something
that we can produce in our own heart apart from His assistance. Though the
command to love is enormous,God's grace makes it possible.
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