Agape love is a love from a supreme being to totally unworthy and undeserving objects. How many of you would say, Glory to God, I’m in the bible? This love produces within them love back to the giver of this love. It also produces a practical love towards others that have received the same love. We should be operating and practicing this kind of love towards each other, the brethren.
For some, this will come easy, some will have to work at this, and yet for others it becomes a sacrifice. We all fit that description. We all were totally unworthy, undeserving, and we got his love anyway. Amen? Praise the Lord. We need to understand there is nothing we can do to deserve it. There’s no works, there’s nothing you can do; you can’t get good enough to deserve the love of God. If you work hard enough to get it, then it ceases being love, it ceases being grace, and becomes a salary. Open your bible to Galatians 5: 22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” I’m thoroughly convinced the fruit of the Spirit is love. The word fruit there is also growth. The more you grow in this love, the more you grow in Jesus. These other things are by-products of growing in love. You grow in the Spirit by studying the word, hearing the word, practicing the word, speaking the word, and being a doer of the word. You must get the word of God in you to release the love of God that is in you. So, the fruit of the Spirit is love. The result of love is joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, all these things. Without the love, you’re not going to have these other things here. No matter what you have, it is nothing without God’s agape love. Okay, so here’s where you want to get out your pen and paper. You might want to write this down because I’m about to explain the by-products. Joy is the expression of love. Peace is the realization of love. Longsuffering is the endurance of love. Gentleness is the administration of love. Goodness is the character of love. Faith is the response of love. Meekness is the disposition of love. Temperance is the control of love. Joy-is experienced when love is expressed. In other words, when love is expressed, joy is experienced. I don’t pray for someone to have joy. I pray they experience the love of God. Joy is important because the word says the joy of the Lord is my strength. The more love you practice, the more joy you’ll experience. Peace- is experienced when you realize how much God loves you. Joy can usher in peace. These are not gifts, they are fruit. Remember that the practice of love brings in these other things. Longsuffering- another word for this is patience. This comes from something you have to go through. Tribulation works patience. Longsuffering, as a by-product of love, helps you stay the same under every kind of pressure. When you practice love, that love will cause you to be enduring-patient. 1Corin 13:4 says love suffers long. It builds a certain patience in you that is confident, strong, and overcoming. Love endures a long time. Gentleness-is what is perceived by others when you walk in love. Gentleness is the administration of love. It is love in action. In the Greek, this word means moral excellence and integrity. Goodness-describes what love is like. God is good, God is also love. We are to be walking in the character of goodness. Our reputation should be that of goodness. Faith-this is the word for faithfulness. The more you walk in love the more faithful l you become. Faithfulness is the response of love. The more I am loved, the more faithful I become to the things of God. Meekness-is the disposition of love. The word says Jesus was lowly and meek of heart. I looked it up and it means mild, not wild. Praise the Lord. Even if you had some wilder days, as begin to love you become milder. Temperance-is the control of love. Love has the power to control and rule your life as it should be. Love should be the controlling, motivating factor in your life. Here’s another word for this, discipline. If we’ll let it, love has the power to discipline us. It has the power to control us so that we can serve others better. Love is the motivation behind all of these different manifestations. Amen? Amen! Next issue, we’ll have more on God’s Agape Love. Doc
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Dr. H. R. SharpJust a man armed with the Word of the LORD. Available now in the store
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