For several months now I have been praying for the gifts of the spirit to be present in my life and the life of my family. I pray through them regularly, but today God pressed in on me and asked me "What do you really know about the gifts of the spirit?" It has prompted me to look at each gift of the spirit a little deeper. Over the next 9 weeks (there are 9 gifts as noted in Galatians 5:22) I will dig into one of the gifts and share what God has shown me in regards to each gift.

Romans 8:5 tells us "Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." I want to explore the first fruit of the spirit which is love.

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It seems like every time someone teaches on love 1 Cor. 13 comes up. That is not bad, but I wanted to look at different aspects of love. Our society today tosses around the word love as if it has a very shallow or superficial meaning. It is completely denuded of all of God wants us to think of it as. John 13:35 tells us "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." One of the most important things we can have in our walk with Christ is a love of our Christian brothers. When our love for our Christian brothers and sisters reaches across denominational lines, across ethnic lines and geographic hindrances the unity of the body of Christ is recognized.

Of course we are also told in Leviticus 19:18 to "...love your neighbor as yourself". This command is given in the old testament, and is repeated multiple times in the New Testament. It was, and still is, a big indicator of our walk with Christ. Can you look at the man in the street who is suffering with the love of Christ, can you offer to assist the single mom who you know needs help? It means putting their needs before our own needs many times, but it is the greatest witness we will have to others. Love means being sacrificial (John 15:13).

Finally, love means being obedient. We can profess our love for Christ all day long, we can say we will follow him in all things, but without obedience we do not live what we profess. In We see Jesus and Peter talking "and Jesus said "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep." Knowing God loves us means we are willing to serve God. It is no coincidence that God used sheep as a metaphor. Being a shepherd was the job of the lowly and poor. The one who was like Peter who was puffed up and wanted the fame and fortune would never just "feed my sheep".

"Lord let me always remember what it is to know that you love me, and what it is to love one another and sacrifice myself and obey you in all things. Let me not forget to look at the world with the eyes you have for the poor, the hurting and the downtrodden, amen."

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