Exhibit 1 – LOVE
Galatians 5:22-23 [TLB] defines the evidence of Spiritual Fruits “But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives He will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
Love is the first piece of evidence that the Holy Spirit is controlling your life. It is like the Conductor of a Symphony. The Conductor’s job, at its most basic level, is to indicate the beat of the music. They make interpretative decisions, such as whether a certain passage should be slow, fast, soft, loud, smooth, aggressive, etc. Just like a conductor, love brings everything in your life into rhythm.
Love is more than a feeling. It’s the ingredient in which our world was created. Before God created the plans for the world, he chose us to be in a relationship with Him. He wanted us to live holy lives characterized by love, free from sin and blameless before him.
Even after God’s creation turned against Him, He made an incredible sacrifice for us. God loved us so much that he gave His only Son, so that anyone who believes in Jesus would not be lost, but have eternal life. [John 3:16]
Ask yourself these questions:
Do you give up easily?
Do you care more for yourself than others?
Are you jealous of what others have?
Are you conceited, arrogant or rude to other people?
Are you easily angered?
Do you ever keep ‘score’ against others?
Do you enjoy seeing distress in the lives of those who have hurt you?
If you answered Yes to any of these questions, you are missing your opportunity to present the evidence of Love.
Now answer these questions?
Do you seek and rejoice in truth?
Do you tolerate things that other people don’t understand?
Do you always believe the best of people?
Do you always hope for the best in people?
Do you hold on when others let go?
If you answered No to any of these questions, then you’re missing even more opportunities to present the evidence of Love.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 explains that Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful, proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Now a really tough question. Did you present your evidence of Love the last time someone was attacking you? Because Jesus instructs us in Matthew 5:44 to “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”
I’m sure at this point you realize that we have an opportunity every day of our lives to exhibit the Love of Christ. Now it’s time for You to start presenting Your Evidence of Love!
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