When Paul wrote to the Galatians about the fruit of the Spirit, he first listed love. In today’s devotional, Dr. Michael Youssef explains why love is synonymous with the fruit of the Spirit.
If you would like more insight into today’s devotional topic, listen to Dr. Michael Youssef’s sermon The Spirituality That Heals, Part 1: LISTEN NOW
[00:00:00] You are listening to MY Devotional, the Daily Devotional from Dr. Michael Youssef and Leading The Way. In Compassing Love by Dr. Michael Youssef, when Paul wrote to the Galatians about the fruit of the spirit,
[00:00:16] the first one he listed was Love. How do you define Love? It's a word we use a lot, but have you ever stopped to think about what it means? Unfortunately in our society we find a distorted kind of love that is self-centered.
[00:00:31] We see romantic movies and think Love is about strong emotions and blissful feelings. And when those feelings fade, we think that Love has ended. Or we pursue friendship only insofar as our friends do not let us down. But true, biblical love is selfless, sacrificial and unconditional.
[00:00:54] It is not contingent on our feelings or our circumstances. While Love is mentioned by Paul as a piece of the fruit of the spirit, it is also synonymous with the fruit of the spirit. Why? Because Love encompasses all the other characteristics on the list.
[00:01:11] When we demonstrate a life of biblical love, we invariably express joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Let's pray together. Father help us to remember the importance of Love to practice true, biblical love in our lives.
[00:01:32] Teach us how to abide in new moment by moment that we might bear this fruit in our lives daily. We pray this in the name of Jesus, Amen. To take a deeper dive into today's devotional topic, check this shown out Sporlinks to additional resources.
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