Let's just say for simplicity's sake I am thankful for the example of our Father God and His Son's unconditional love. I am also thankful for Jesus rescuing the Apostle Paul and using him to speak to the church in Corinth. He laid out the attributes of love in chapter 13, and also showed what the fruit of the Holy Spirit is when he spoke to the Galatians, of which we read in Galatians 5. Summed up, when I compare it to the life of Christ, I see that Jesus embodies all of the attributes and demonstrates the fruit of the Spirit.
"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. ..
And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
I ask myself, "what part of the words 'is, does not, is not' do I not understand?" Paul clearly states what love is. There is no beating around the bush or leaving room for excuse for me to not act accordingly. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. This is Agape love.There is no room between the words "all."
It sounds like it’s a blind love. Love is not blind. Love
sees more. Because love sees more, it chooses to see less. People may say “You’re in the clouds
somewhere!”. If you have this kind of love Agape love, you will be misunderstood and
called blind. No. Not so. Love isn’t blind.
Because it sees more it chooses to see less. Agape love sees
the price that has been paid on the Cross. Therefore I don’t have to dwell, or delve, unless it’s for the purpose of restoring, exalting, blessing and helping. If I’m willing to to do as Jesus did, washing redemptively and
restoratively refreshing, I have no right to point out dirt. No gossip or
being upset. Jesus loved the disciples. He was able to deal with the dirt
because he was willing to personally refresh them individually and restore.
But, if my attitude is to cut off, then I’m not living in Agape.
How in the world can love do all this? Through Jesus because He embodies love. The only way to produce fruit is to abide and stay attached to the trunk and source. (John 15) “Christ in you is the hope of glory.” Jesus came in the past and He’s coming in the future.I am in the present, so love. He is the hope. Faith in Jesus, hope for the future , and love in the present.
"Seems I've imagined Him all of my life as the wisest of all of mankind. But if God's Holy wisdom is foolish to man, He must have seemed out of His mind .For even His family said He was mad, and the priest said a demon's to blame. But, God in the form of this angry young man, could not have seemed perfectly sane. When we in our foolishness thought we were wise, He played the fool and He opened our eyes.When we in our weakness believed we were strong, He became helpless to show we were wrong. So we follow God's own Fool, for only the foolish can tell. Believe the unbelievable, come be a fool as well. So come lose your life for a carpenter's son, for a madman who died for a dream, and You'll have the faith His first followers had, and you'll feel the weight of the beam. So surrender the hunger to say you must know, have the courage to say 'I believe'.For the power of paradox opens your eyes, and blinds those who say they can see. So we follow God's own Fool, for only the foolish can tell. Believe the unbelievable, come be a fool as well"
- Michael Card "God's Own Fool"