This is a command from Jesus, Himself. He went on to give us the definition of love through the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 13 : "Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails"

Jesus had told us in verse 16, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain ..." Jesus chose and appointed us that we should go and bear fruit, that this fruit should remain. The Lord, being faithful, tells us what the "fruit" is in Galatians 5 starting at verse 22, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (and) self-control"

Love is something we must abide in and pursue (1 Cor.13:13; 14:1) and it is part of our Spirit filled life (Galatians 5:22-23). Godly love is not something we can accomplish on our own because it's not a "feeling" or "emotion" like the world wants us to believe.

True Biblical love comes from the Lord, Himself, through His Spirit. All we have to do is surrender to Him daily and allow Him to love others through us; this requires a continuous surrendering.

Heavenly Father, thank you for first loving us so that we can love. Thank you Jesus for choosing and appointing us that we may bear fruit. And thank you Holy Spirit for the abundance of fruit You manifest through those who, consistently, relinquish all to you. May we be good stewards of this truth You've given us. In Jesus name.

Have a joyous day in our Lord!
April
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Stop by and visit "Encouragement From The Heart" Website; Updated July 1999. Special thanks to our Webmaster, John! Our God is Awesome!
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