Love

Last Sunday we celebrated the birth of the Church on Pentecost. It was on that day that the Holy Spirit came upon the Church and has been present ever since. So how do we know the Holy Spirit is within us as individuals and as a congregation?  

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…” Galatians 22-23

Another way to punctuate this is “love” followed by a colon (love: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). It is thus possible to read the eight characteristics following “love” as defining love.

Paul defines love this way in his letter to the Corinthians:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” – 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

The sentence that follows is this… “Love never ends.” Why? Because God’s love is eternal.

The greatest gift of the Holy Spirit is the ability to love as Christ loves us. May you thrive in the Spirit of the Lord this week and always.

See you Sunday!
Missy