October 1, 2026

Love

When I finally surrendered to the Lord in 1992, I had a lot of expectations.  I’d been hanging around the Christian fringe for a few years.  I’d always read the Bible. I understood how the world prefers the creature to the Creator. I was clearly aware our acceptance of Jesus Christ was a choice and I chose to believe…from a safe distance.  There were things I wanted.  All my life I craved the blessings of the Fruits of the Spirit. I believed the moment I surrendered, I would be a new creation and the changes in my character would be instantaneous. 

Now I understand God a bit better.  He is not a magician with a wand.  He is a loving God, filled with Grace, and He fully expects us to participate in our Salvation journey.  I am finding the Fruits of the Spirit are elusive.  We must choose the behavior, understand its Kingdom value, and then surrender our egos. 

Because I am forever on the Fruit of the Spirit journey, I decided to write about several of these character improvements and the value to our effectiveness once we accept the work involved.  The one I needed the most was probably patience.  But I am writing first about love.

Love is the heart of God toward humanity.  Love.  Grace.  Goodness.  Actually, God epitomizes all the Fruits of the Spirit in a perfect way.  Unless we grow up in a teaching church, most of us have an unhealthy fear of God as children.  It is a huge blessing once we understand He is love.  He adores us.  He wants good things for us. 

This is what the Bible says in Matthew 22, 37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’[e] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[f] 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”  No question about it, God is all about love.  And I know I say it a LOT, Love your neighbor as you love yourself. 

I believe my Christian journey has just this one huge task.  That is to surrender my mind, my heart and my soul to the Word, to God and to embracing each Fruit of the Spirit.  Love, once understood as the cornerstone of our walk with God, will lead us to each fruit and help us achieve compliance.

Lord, I am in awe of Your goodness and Your generosity.  Thank You for taking me on this journey, for allowing me to understand a relationship built on love and all the amazing Fruits of the Spirit.  People who trust You, who learn from You, are blessed to understand unconditional love is the greatest gift we can give each other.  When we understand people make mistakes, they make bad choices and say or do things that were not meant to cause us pain, and we forgive them, this grace we learned from You allows them to mature in their walk with You. The Christian walk is empowering, enlightening and rewarding.  Thank You for grafting me into Your Tree of Life. 

Love Is the Greatest

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. ...  1 Corinthians 13