I. Love does not come naturally. That should be quite evident from the selfish attitude prevalent among us. All humans are born with an evil nature, which means it’s our nature to be selfish. Hence, we cater to our flesh.
A. Selfishness - Such selfishness causes us to use and abuse others, and that is ultimately detrimental to our own well-being. Of course, we can’t see the harm because all we can think about is me, my, and mine. My needs! My wants! It’s all about me, or so we think!
B. The Law - Our loving Father God gave us the law in order that we might have the structure needed to live together in a peaceful, orderly manner. However, it takes a whole lot more than just the law to get the job done. Knowing the law is one thing, but keeping the law is quite another—humanly impossible, in fact.
C. The spirit of the law - Jesus pointed out that keeping the letter of the law is not enough. We need the spirit of the law. The spirit of the law involves having the right attitudes as well as the right actions. How is this possible? It is only possible as we are motivated by God’s love! God’s love is the only thing that can fulfill the intent of the law.
II. Love is humanly impossible. Only God can love because only God is love. Love is His nature, so love comes naturally to Him. Thankfully, God provided a way for you to have this kind of love. It requires a change of heart so that you can have a new nature—God’s nature.
A. God’s Love - When you have God’s nature, you have God’s love. Therefore, loving others will become supernaturally natural! God’s nature is available to you through Jesus Christ. Upon receiving Christ, you become a child of God. As a result of your union with Christ, your old evil nature is exchanged for a new divine nature. Since God, who is love, lives in you, it is now your nature to love as God loves.
B. God’s Love Expressed - However, in order for God to express His love through you, you first must yield yourself completely to the Spirit’s control. The fruit of God’s Holy Spirit is love. As you allow the Holy Spirit within you to control you, He will produce the love of God through you. The love of God will become the divine compulsion within you. Under the Spirit’s control, His love will compel you to say and do the right thing.
C. Love by the Spirit - Loving as God loves involves allowing God’s caring, compassionate life to operate through you. You can just do what comes naturally because the Spirit will be guiding you. God’s love will become evident in your life because of your new nature. Supernaturally natural, that’s the new you in Christ!
III. PRAYER - “Heavenly Father, You instruct us to love one another, but my attempts to love always fail. My fleshly efforts fall short and end up being self serving. I realize that You are the Source of true Love. Since the fruit of the Spirit is love, I ask You, Holy Spirit, to fill me and love others through me.”
Lewis Gregory © 2023
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