Fruit of the Spirit: Love
LESSON SUMMARY
God is Love
What does the Bible say God is? God is love. (1 John 4:8)
Love is not just something God does. Love is the very nature of God. It’s who He is. Love rules everything that He does.
How did God show His love for us?
By sending His son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sin. Jesus loved us soooooo much that He gave His life for us. Even when we didn’t deserve it. Even when we hated Him. Even when we were His enemies.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
So if we ever doubt whether Jesus loves us or not, look to the cross. That’s the clearest sign of His love.
Jesus’ love is in us!
Jesus tells us that God the Father loved Him, so He loved us. (John 15:9)
And we are to remain in this love — keep being full of it!
And the one command He gives us is to:
John 15:12 Love each other as I have loved you
That seems like such a difficult thing to do! Jesus’ love is unconditional and perfect. How can we love others unconditionally and perfectly? The truth is … we can’t. Not on our own.
On our own, we’re selfish and unkind and self-seeking. Just like the moon, we have no light of our own.
That’s why it is so important to know how much Jesus loves us — so we can be filled with His love to love others around us.
1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.
Remember … Love is a Fruit of the Spirit. The Jesus tree produces Jesus fruit. And we are part of the Jesus tree! It’s not us trying to squeeze a durian out of a banana tree!
