Live Juicy – Week 2 – Love

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:2-8a

Love

Love forms the foundation for all the other fruits. It is the first one listed and the foundation upon which each of the other characteristics builds upon. There are four different types of love mentioned in the Bible. But for today’s lesson, we are going to focus on agape love, perfect love.

If you would like to learn more about the other types of love, please visit this devotional series I did on love by clicking on the picture below:

Agape Love

Beth Moore, in Living Beyond Yourself, Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit, applies the following list of characteristics to agape love:

Agape love is:

• the divine capacity to love only produced by God.
• more of a response than a feeling
• fueled by the needs rather than the desires of self or others
• expressed through me when I surrender to the Holy Spirit
• always demonstrative

“For God so [agape] the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 KJV

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

Do you know how many characteristics of love are listed in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8? Take a minute now to read it and count the ways. Ok, are you back? How many characteristics did you find? I came up with 15! So much goodness packed into such a short passage of Scripture! Let’s take a look at each one a little more closely.

1. Love is patient. The Greek word for patient is makrothumia and means a person who can avenge himself, yet refrains. So, when I am cut off in traffic, or someone cuts in front of me in line at the store, love will hold her tongue and smile. Romans 12:19 tells us we are to leave room for God’s wrath. Not that I am focusing on that part. 
2. Love is kind. Once again, if we look at the Greek meaning, we get to the meat of the subject. Chresteumai means to show oneself as useful. Yesterday our good friends came over and helped us with some yard work. They also brought us food and good conversation. The kindness they showed was just what I think Jesus would have done.
3. Love does not envy. This one hits a little close to home for me, as a woman who continually finds herself stuck in the comparison trap. When I remember how much God agape’s me, I can step away from envy and walk in blessings.
4. Love does not boast. There is one place in Scripture that says it is ok to boast, it is in 1 Corinthians 1:31. Did you peek? When is it ok to boast? Otherwise, love is quiet in its work and does not call attention to itself for the sake of getting brownie points.
5. Love is not proud. They say that pride comes before the fall. (Proverbs 16:18) I have experienced this many times. I am hoping, over the years, I have become wiser and learned that in perfect love, the deception of pride makes me look like a fool. Fool me once….
6. Love is not rude. I have a confession to make. Sometimes I cuss. I have jokingly said I need a tee-shirt that says: “I love Jesus, but I cuss a little.” I have been convicted in the past two years to work on this. I have learned, not only do family and friends find cussing rude, so does God. Love does not cuss. (I may be nudged by God one day, to write a devotion titled Does God Care if I Cuss)
7. Love is not self-seeking. Agape love will always want the best for others. If you ever find yourself trying to manipulate a situation for personal gain (and we have all done this), we are self-seeking. I really wanted to go eat Mexican food the other night, but my husband would have preferred not to. I found myself coming up with all kinds of arguments to warrant getting my way. That was self-seeking.
8. Love is not easily angered. There is much wisdom in the book of Proverbs regarding anger, but I settled on this verse: A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict, but the one who is patient calms a quarrel. Proverbs 15:18. We always have the choice to either let our temper out or temper our anger. Choose wisely.
9. Love keeps no records of wrongs. In Hebrews 10:17, God says, “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” I am so glad God does not keep a record of my wrongs. I want to make sure I am not keeping a record of my wrongs or the wrongs of others.
10. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. I would not classify myself as a person who delights in evil. But when I read this verse in the ESV, it puts it like this, “it does not rejoice at wrongdoing.” I have to admit sometimes I like doing wrong. I like cussing, (we talked about that before), but the truth is that God does not rejoice in my choice words.
11. Love protects. We can protect one another by keeping caring for others deeply. (1 Peter 4:8)
12. Love always trusts. My Grandpa Schilter was known for saying, “The world is going to hell in a handbasket.” I now understand the sentiment. It can be challenging to put our faith in others. The Greek word for trust is pisteuo, which involves having faith in someone. It is an act of love to trust one another.
13. Love always hopes. How can I not love this one? I wrote a 30-Day devotional on this characteristic of love. You can find your copy of the book HERE.
14. Love always perseveres. So, thanks for hanging in for the first fourteen characteristics of love! The word perseveres means just that, to hang in there. The reason we want to persevere is best given in our fifteenth and final characteristic of love. Love does not fail.

The Final Characteristic of Love

Finally, agape love does not fail. We will return to the Greek word one last time today. The Greek word for fail is ekpipto, and it means “to be without effect, to be in vain.” Agape is never without effect, and agape is never in vain. We simply cannot out love each other or God!

Beth Moore says it like this:

Agape begins as a response and ends with a feeling. It may be the most difficult request God ever makes of us – and the most glorious privilege. – Beth Moore

Just Do It

When the religious leaders questioned Jesus about the greatest commandment, this is what He said:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:37-39

So, are you ready to Live Juicy? Since we know that love never fails, how will you show God’s agape love to others this week?

Heavenly Father, I want to live in Christ and have a juicy life dripping with the nectar of the fruit of the Spirit. Help me to keep your Word, especially 1 Corinthians 13, alive in my soul this week as I am intentional in showing others what your agape love looks like. In the power of the Holy Spirit, I go. Amen.

For a more in-depth study of the fruit of the Spirit, I recommend and am reading myself, Living Beyond Yourself, by Beth Moore

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