Love Is

//Timeless Teaching by Kenneth E. Hagin

The Bible says that God is love (1 John 4:8). And since God is love, we need to know what the God-kind of love is. Of course, the God-kind of love is not the same as natural human love. Natural human love can turn to hatred overnight, but God’s love never fails.

When we were born again, God’s love was imparted into our hearts by the Holy Ghost. And His love bears up under anything! Don’t misunderstand me. I’ve been there when I wanted to quit from the natural standpoint. But the love of God on the inside wouldn’t let me quit, because it bears up under everything. It never weakens, fades out, or comes to an end.

If we’ll just walk in the light of God’s love, we can bear up under anything. We’ll be able to love folks whether our flesh feels like it or not. Too many times, however, believers act in a selfish manner. No matter how much it might hurt someone, they’ll say things like, “I’ve got my rights. And I’m going to make sure I get them!”

The God-kind of love doesn’t insist on its own rights. If we contend for our rights, we’re not walking in the love of God. And we won’t be able to believe God fully until we understand the God-kind of love and walk in it. Why? Because the Godkind of faith works by love. And to believe God fully and operate in the faith of God, we must walk in the love of God.

Quit Keeping Score

One characteristic of the divine kind of love is that it doesn’t keep a record when it has been wronged. First Corinthians 13:5 says, “[Love] takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]” (Amplified). This verse contains love’s thermometer—love’s gauge.

It’s easy to find out if we’re walking in love. All we have to do is look at our love walk in light of this scripture. Are we touchy, fretful, or resentful? Do we always remember how people have wronged us? As long as we’re taking account of the evil done to us, we’re not walking in love.

The Fruit of Love

Love is a fruit of the born-again human spirit, and because it is a fruit, it can grow and develop. All believers received the fruit of the spirit when they were born again. In fact, love is the first fruit of the spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22: “The fruit of the Spirit is love.” The fruit of love is produced from our reborn human spirit because of the life that comes from abiding in the Vine, the Lord Jesus Christ (John 15:5).

That life has been imparted to our spirits through the Word of God by the Holy Spirit. If we’ll just let that love dominate us, what a difference it will make in our lives. It’s up to us to do something with that love nature. Even though the love of God is in us because it’s been shed abroad in our hearts, it won’t be developed unless we put it into action. Developing and exercising the God-kind of love is up to us.

A lot of times believers get taken up with natural things, and that’s where they dwell. They don’t take advantage of what already belongs to them. They don’t take time to be nourished by the Vine by communing with the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. That’s why we need to put spiritual things first.

To grow in love we need to abide in Christ and let Him abide in us through prayer, the Word, and communion with Him. Then we need to exercise the love that we have on the inside. Spend time waiting upon the Lord and feeding on His Word. Love will blossom and bring forth abundant fruit to God’s glory.

Think About: Have you found it challenging at times to walk in love? How did you handle those situations? How can you make it easier in the future?