“Maar de vrucht van de Geest is liefde, vreugde, vrede, geduld, vriendelijkheid, goedheid, trouw, zachtmoedigheid en zelfbeheersing. Tegen zulke dingen bestaat geen wet.”
Galaten 5:22-23

In John 13:34–35, the Lord Jesus told His disciples, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

This love is not friendship love (phileo in the Greek), nor is it eros love, from which we get our word erotic. Neither is it storge love, which refers to family affection.

The love that is to be seen among believers is the love that demonstrates one aspect of the fruit of the Spirit. It is the love of God being displayed through us. It is agape love—divine love. Agape is the very nature of God and is to be demonstrated by those who have been brought into a relationship with Him through the finished work of His beloved Son.

We clearly see this in 1 John 4:7–12:

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.”

We are so accustomed to thinking of love as a feeling, but that is not the case with agape love. Agape love is unconditional love. It is defined by what it does, not by how it feels. It involves faithfulness, commitment, and an act of the will. Love is a choice.

This is the love God has shown toward us and the love He expects from us. It is the kind of love that seeks the well-being of others despite the sacrifice it may require. The Spirit of God devotes an entire chapter—1 Corinthians 13—to describing what love does. Yet the greatest illustration of divine love is seen at the cross, where “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” and where “the Son of God loved me and gave Himself for me” (Rom. 5:8; Gal. 2:20).

Ankerpunt voor vandaag:
True sacrificial love can only be displayed through us by the power of the Spirit of God. He is looking for this fruit in each of our lives today.