Remix: Student Devotionals

Fruit of The Spirit - Week 1

Day 1: What's Love Got to do With It?

We live in a society that doesn't understand what love is. Think about it. The word "love" is the most overused word in the English language. We look our parents in the eye, and we say, "I love you!" Then, we look at a slice of pizza that is just oozing with cheese, and we say, "I love you, Mister Pizza." We look at our boyfriend or girlfriend and say, "I love you so much!" and not ten minutes later, we say the same thing to our dog.

Do you love your parents more than you love pizza? I hope so, even though pizza is very delicious. Do you love your dog or your date more? Or do you love them differently?

We use the term love for just about everything. I love those shoes; I love that outfit on you, I love your car. We have one word for love, but it means so many different things. In the first century, they didn't just have one word for love. They had three. One word they used for love was the word "eros." This is the root for the word "erotic." This is the sexual love that a husband has for his wife, asking the question, "what can I get for me?"

The second word for love is "phileo." This is the root for the word "Philadelphia." It has to do with love between two friends. A brotherly kind of love. This kind of love asks the question, "what can we do for each other?"

The third word for love they used was the word "agape." Agape love asks the question, "What can I do for you?" Agape love says despite who you are, despite what you did, in spite of what my circumstances are, I will honor other people as better than myself.

This is the kind of love that God has for each of us. "In spite of" kind of love. In spite of our rebellion, despite our sin, despite all the times we said one thing and did another, God still loves us. This overwhelming, unconditional, unrelenting love is the same love that God has given to each of us, and it is this kind of agape love that God wants us to give to everyone else.

Paul writes about this kind of love in 1 Corinthians 13.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NIV)

Paul continues to write in 1 Corinthians 14:1 that you and I should "make love our greatest aim." Loving God and loving people. That's what Jesus said life was all about, so what is love?

The first thing I want you to understand is:

LOVE IS A VERB. That means that love is an action. Love is not something that you feel, it's not just something that you say, but love is something you do.

Agape love gets into my hands as I meet the needs of others that God has placed in my life.

Agape love gets in my feet as I go to be a light for Jesus in dark places.

Agape love gets in my wallet as I use the money God has entrusted to my care to fund the kingdom of God.

Agape love gets on my calendar as I set aside time to love my neighbor as myself.

If a person really loves someone, they will show it in their words and by what they do. Isn't that what Jesus did for us? He not only told us that He loves us, but He showed His love for us by dying on the cross so we might be forgiven of our sins.

Let me ask you a tough question today. Are you a loving person? Do you show your love for others in the words that you say and the things you do for others? Do you love people with an "in spite of" kind of love?

Time Out:

Look up John 13:34-35 and answer the following questions.

How are we to love others?

How does Jesus love you?

How will people know that we really are Christians?

What kind of love are you showing your parents?

What kind of love are you showing your friends?

What kind of love are you showing to God?

Just before Jesus died for us, He looked at His twelve disciples and said, "I want you to be the most loving group of people in the world." How are you doing on this one?