The Believer's Love

Tonight I want to begin our study of the fruit of the Spirit by thinking about this grace of love. All of these 9 fruits which are listed here are graces given by the Spirit. What each of us needs to understand is that they are graces which are given to each and every Christian so that they will be able to fulfill their chief duties, which are to love God and love man, in that order. For the first and greatest commandment is that we would love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. And the second is that we would love our neighbor as ourselves. This is the fulfillment of the law. The fulfillment of the righteous requirement of the law (or what God expects) in the life of a Christian, comes through our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and our obedience to His commands. For our obedience to these commands to glorify God, they must be done in love. And while we are going about to do and keep these commands, we must specifically believe and consider 2 all-important truths. First, that Jesus Christ has gone before us in love and purchased this grace for us. And 2nd, He has given us the Holy Spirit so that we will have His love at work in our hearts and lives.