Seldom do you hear about this all-important function. Yet, it could not be written more plainly on the pages of the Bible. And it could not be more important. Here are Paul’s words on the subject:

We need not be ashamed of hope because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who was given to us.
Romans 5:5

It is only through the Spirit’s power to do so that we can fulfill the two great commandments, to love God and our neighbor. Sure, the world thinks that it knows what love is all about. Hollywood, magazines, TV sitcoms, and the like thrive on the subject. But none of them has the slightest idea of what Paul was talking about.

There are so many differences between true—that is, biblical—love and the stuff pawned off on an unsuspecting audience that revels in the emotion, and sexual-laden commodity that is falsely termed love by the media, that it is impossible to even mention (let alone describe or discuss)  them here. So, let me mention the principal one: the Spirit’s love is “giving.” God so loved the world that He gave His unique Son; He loved me and gave Himself for me; Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her, are but three biblical references that demonstrate this fundamental quality of true love.

In contrast, so much of the world’s so-called “love” is no more than lust. Lust wants to get, not to give. “If I don’t get what I want out of a marriage, then I’ll leave it to see if I can do better elsewhere,” is the sentiment expressed by many who break up families and go their own way. They were disappointed by not getting what the soaps held forth as love. There is no thought of “What can I give to make this marriage what it ought to be?” That concept is utterly foreign.

But even if one were to attempt to give, rather than seek what he/she wants, it still wouldn’t be biblical love. Why? Because the Scriptures set forth the only standard of what one ought to give, and how to give it. They would be giving all the wrong things in the wrong way, for the wrong reasons. Moreover, God would be left out of the picture, and He, alone, is the model for what giving-love is all about.

Only those who have experienced His saving love in Christ can love Him and others as they ought, because only they have the Holy Spirit at work in their lives enabling them to do so.

Are you a loving person? Think about it, and come to Christ to discover what true love is all about.

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