A Young Woman's Walk with God chapter 2 #1

A Loving Heart
The fruit of the Spirit is love.
Galatians 5:22

Finding Out More About Love

We can't read very far in the New Testament without realizing that love is important to God.
(Ephesians 5:2, John 15:12, Matthew 22:39, and Luke 6:27) As a child of God, we are to love others as God loved us. How has Jesus loved you? What does the kind of love you're supposed to give to others look like? The bible gives us principles that help us understand Christian love.

Principle #1: Love is an act of the will

We often only want to show love when we are chipper, but we also must show it when we are tired. It's not easy. We must show Christian love even when we don't feel like it. We often must...
~ give love when we want to withhold,
~ reach out to others when we are tired and want to rest,
~ serve when we want to be served, and
~ help others when we ourselves are hurting.
(John 3:16, Matthew 20:28, and Luke 9:51)

Principle #2: Love is action- not just words

Love is also an action. If we are asked to help someone ,when we don't want to, if we have a bad attitude it speaks that we aren't doing it in love. (1 John 3:18) We need to have a happy heart when asked to help.

Principle #3: Love reaches out to the unlovely

It is easy for us to love the ones that are sweet, and kind, but sometimes we need to love those who are mean and hurt your feelings. God calls us to love both. (Matthew 5:43-45) Jesus loved those who wanted to crucify Him! We need to strive yo be like Christ.

Principle #4: We need God to help us love

We can't get the any of the fruits of the Spirit without God. It is easy for us to love those who love us, and very hard for us to love those who hate us (Luke 6:32-33, and 6:25) Love as God loved and ask Him to help you.

Principle #5: Love expects nothing in return

When we show love towards someone we often expect them to give us something in return. Jesus tells us to love without expecting anything in return! (Luke 6:35) He also commands us to love one another like He has loved us. (John 13:34)