Day 2: Love - The Greatest Fruit

Key Passage:

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NLT) "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or 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."

Related Passages:

• Romans 5:5
• 1 John 4:7-12
• John 13:34-35

Devotional: The first and most fundamental fruit of the Spirit is love. This isn't surprising, as God Himself is love. When the Holy Spirit dwells in us, His very nature—which is love—begins to manifest in our lives.

In the original Greek, the word used for love in Galatians 5:22 is "agape." Unlike other Greek words for love that describe romantic feelings (eros) or brotherly affection (philia), agape is a deliberate, sacrificial love that seeks the highest good of others regardless of how we feel about them. It's the love that Jesus demonstrated when He died for us while we were still sinners.

Romans 5:5 tells us that "God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." This is a beautiful picture—God's love isn't something we generate; it's something we receive and then channel to others. Like a reservoir that fills and then overflows, we love others out of the abundance of love we've received from God.

The description of love in 1 Corinthians 13 provides a practical checklist for evaluating whether we're expressing agape love. It's patient and kind. It's not jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. It doesn't demand its own way. It's not irritable, and it keeps no record of wrongs. It rejoices in truth, not injustice. It never gives up, loses faith, or loses hope. It endures through every circumstance.

When we struggle to love difficult people, we're reminded that this kind of love isn't humanly possible. It requires supernatural empowerment—exactly what the Holy Spirit provides.

Call to Action: Identify one person in your life who is difficult to love. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see this person through God's eyes and to fill you with His agape love for them. Then, perform one specific act of kindness for this person today, regardless of how you feel about them.

Reflection Questions:

1. Which aspects of love described in 1 Corinthians 13 do I find most challenging to express?
2. How have I experienced God's agape love in my own life?
3. In what relationship do I most need the Holy Spirit's help to love more genuinely?

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank You for demonstrating perfect agape love through Your sacrifice on the cross. I confess that I often fall short in loving others as You have loved me. Pour Your love into my heart through Your Holy Spirit, especially toward those I find difficult to love. Help me to express Your love not just in words but in tangible actions that seek others' highest good. Use me as a channel of Your love in a world desperate for genuine compassion. In Your name I pray, Amen.