The fruit of the Spirit . . . Love

The very first fruit that we come to is love. Many of you have probably heard the term agape (a-gah-pay) which is one of the Greek words that is translated love, or charity in the King James. What is unique about this word, is that it describes a love that gives of itself. It is the very benevolence or agape-love of God, that caused Him to give His own Son for us, while we were still sinners. So then, we see that the fruit of the Spirit is then a modeling in our own lives of the very things we see in God. For the agape-love to be demonstrated in our lives we must show the same type of benevolence that God showed to us. Think about the good Samaritan, he helped the man who had been beaten and robbed, and he did so at his own expense. He didn't first draw up a repayment plan, and say I will help you as soon as you sign this promissory note. He took the man and bandaged his wounds and provided a place for him to stay, for the simple reason that the man needed help.

I remember Brother Sankya told me about a poor family that visited with his family. He told me that his daughter gave their children some toys. When the family had departed, Brother Sankya told me that his daughter had begun to cry. Thinking that they were lamenting the loss of their toys, he started to scold them. Then he said, they told him that they were crying because they didn't have more to give, and then he told me that he started crying. That is love. That is what we all need in our lives, a love that gives simply because there is a need.