Word of the Week - Love

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13

According to God’s Word, the greatest of all godly virtues is Love.  The highest form of Love is sacrificial Love and there is no greater demonstration of this Love than what God did for us through the Cross, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8.  The virtue of Love is very expansive and is well defined in the 13^th chapter of 1 Corinthians “the Love Chapter”, see more on this below from prior Word of the Week post in August 2016.  Love encompasses all other godly virtues such as humility, self-control, wisdom, courage, grace, faith and hope.  Love is a gift from God.  We cannot necessarily create it but we can receive it through our abiding relationship with Christ and become a conduit to pass it on to others by pouring out our lives through Love.  This is Christian ministry - Simply taking what God has done and is doing in our lives through His love and grace and sharing it with others in Love.  As we receive God’s Love through His amazing grace through faith, He pours love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit; “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Romans 5:5.  In sum, Love is the first and supreme fruit of our abiding relationship with Christ and the godly virtue that most glorifies and multiplies Christ.  “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on Love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:12-14 I hope you have a blessed week and experience the amazing love of Christ.

-Duane