Living Out Love (Daily Devotional)

Shalom and welcome to a fresh series of Living Supernaturally, where we look into God's word, meditate on it and find things that help us live and apply it into our day to day lives. For this series going forward this week, we've chosen something that's very familiar for us, which is the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians chapter 5 verses 22 to 23 talks about the fruit of the Spirit and we know that there are nine of them but we're really going to look at, how do we live out the fruit of the Spirit. We will take each one of them and understand and meditate on it greater. So, as a believer, each of us have the presence of the Holy Spirit. One of the primary purposes of the Holy Spirit coming into a Christian’s life is so that the life of that individual will change. There is change in that life, it is the Holy Spirit’s job to conform us to the image of Christ, making us more like Him and the Holy Spirit works in us and our character changes. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is the result of the presence of the Spirit in our lives, in the life of a Christian. So, when we look at the word fruit, it emerges naturally as a result of growth and we see its fruit of the Spirit meaning it clarifies from where the growth happens, who is the source of that growth. We see that it is not our effort, it is not our determination, it is not our doing but it is the power of the Holy Spirit. So, no matter how much you and I strive for, we cannot produce spiritual fruit on our own. When we yield to the influence of the Spirit, is when miracles happen in our hearts. So, today, we look at the first fruit and that is love. The word love in this verse comes from the Greek word ‘agape’ which means a pure, willful, sacrificial love that intentionally desires the good of someone else or it intentionally desires highest good. We see the love that was displayed by Jesus. He gave up His life willingly on a cross so that you and I could be saved. He sacrificed His life out of His love so that we can be saved. How can we manifest this fruit, love? Imagine you are faced with a really challenging situation, where you maybe wronged by someone, hurt by someone, instead of acting in anger and resentment, we choose to respond in love. Let’s look at what the bible talks about this love. 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verses 4 to 7, ‘love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.’ So, what do we do? How do we manifest this love? You and I demonstrate patience when we take time to understand another person’s perspective rather than jumping at conclusions, we show love. We show love we show kindness by speaking gently and offering forgiveness. We refuse to be envious or boast, instead we celebrate the success of others and we humble ourselves before them. We show love when we refuse to be angry and hold grudges instead extend grace and seek reconciliation. We show love when we bear all things, believing the best in the other person and choosing to see their potential rather than dwelling on some past mistakes. We hope for the best and persevere through challenges, trusting that God’s power will heal and restore those relationships. Through our actions, we reflect the love of Christ demonstrating the ultimate example of love. So, let's live and let's see how we can exhibit the fruit of the Spirit by our love to others. Let's pray together, Heavenly Father, we pray that the fruit of the Spirit of love will dwell richly in us, as we deal and interact with our loved ones, with others outside, that you will keep us humble, that we will show your love, that we will be unconditional, we will be intentional in the way we love. May we seek others and the interest of others more than our own. Help us to love like you have loved, in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

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