Weekly Theme October 19 through 25

Holy Spirit Shows Us Love

 “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

-Romans 5:3-5

I believe that a major function of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to open our hearts to the possibility of loving others with the love of Jesus.  I do not believe that we can truly love without the power of the Spirit in our lives. Oh, we think we have love that comes from our own hearts for others.  However, so many times our human expression of love has so many strings attached.  We say we love others but the way we live out our love really sends this message:  “I’ll love you if you do this for me.”  Our human love always wants something in return for the love that we give.

The love that the Holy Spirit sows in our hearts is a love that comes from Jesus so it is free, grace-filled, and present in abundance.  The love of Jesus that the Holy Spirit places in our hearts says, “I’ll love you even if you decide not to love me in return.”  This love of the Holy Spirit is referred to in the New Testament as “agape.”  Agape love is a love that is so deep and wide that it is only possible to live and experience through the action of the Holy Spirit working in our lives