We’ve been talking about the marks we make. As children of God, it only seems right to follow the example of our Father. When Jesus set out to make His mark, He went to the producer of the mark. Are we being controlled by the Holy Spirit and producing fruit that is mark-worthy?
When Jesus sought to enrich others,
He mined in the quarry of Holy Spirit.
Charles Spurgeon
Isn’t that cool? Mining is something we know just a little about in West Virginia, even if we’re not miners. The quarry of the Holy Spirit holds deep veins of Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control. Close your eyes and picture that. Priceless fruits. When I read those, I wondered why they were listed in that particular order or was it even a particular order? Are they listed in order of importance? Are they listed in sequential order? Definitely not alphabetical order. But, the order is intriguing to me. Can we have any of them without the other? You know, joy without love? Gentleness without self-control? Faithfulness without peace or peace without faithfulness? Do you see what I’m saying? Each fruit is independent of the other fruits, its own vein. Each fruit is interdependent on the other fruits, all in the quarry of Holy Spirit.
Let’s look at Love, it is a pretty loose word these days, isn’t it? It flows so easily from our lips. We exclaim love about everything from ice cream flavors, to lipstick shades, to clothing styles, to jobs, to vehicles, to sports teams, etc. Do we even know what it really means? We throw the word around to the point that it has lost its meaning. In fact, we have to say I love, love, love… in order to make sure others believe us! You know what they say, loose love lips sink ships?
We need to get back to the basics of love. We need to reclaim the true meaning of God’s love. Love is not up to man’s interpretation, love is exactly what God says it is. God did not say I love you, God did I love you. God did not place conditions on His love for us. God’s love is not a feeling, it’s an action. God’s love makes its mark on our lives. In that same way, as His children, we too are to make our mark on others with God’s love. How are we doing at doing love?
Wednesday
There are four types of love in the Bible. The first mention of the word love in the Bible is found in Genesis 22:2. This type of love is called storge. The love of a father for a son, or a father for a daughter. Dig in your Bible and find two other examples of storge love.
Thursday
The second type of love noted in the Bible is philios. Read Romans 12:10. Read John 13:35. Read John 15:13. Based on these scriptures, what is the definition of philios love?
Friday
Next we explore eros. Read Song of Solomon. The greatest example of romantic love in the Bible (in my humble opinion). We’ve allowed our world today to completely denigrate and redefine the meaning of this love. Do we eros our spouses in a Biblical way?
Saturday
Meditate on the three types of love we’ve just explored, storge, philos, eros. Pray the Holy Spirit’s guidance and direction in enacting those loves to others. Pray that the Spirit opens your heart to be able to express family love, brotherly love and romantic love so that the recipients of those expressions will understand how much you love them.
Sunday
Read Ephesians 5:1-2. Read John 13:34. Read Matthew 5:46-47. Who are we to imitate? How are we to imitate? How did Jesus love the world?
Monday
And finally, agape. Study Ephesians 2:4-10. God loved us so much that He… In these verses is love expressed in a feeling or an action? God said I Love You in these verses by giving the greatest gift of all, grace, through His Only Begotten Son. God’s grace is an act of love. We are to imitate this kind of unconditional love. How do we put this kind of love into action? What does that look like?
Tuesday
Read John 3:16-17. We probably know these verses by heart, God’s ultimate act of love, to die for sinners, to die for us, so that we would have eternal life. Chew on that a little. The ultimate self-sacrifice. Do we love others like that? Do we love others enough? Enough to risk positions, friends, reputations, condemnation, to lay down our lives for others – to do love? Are we being controlled by the Holy Spirit and producing love that is mark-worthy?