"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth" (1 John 3:18).
The first fruit of the Spirit is love, and it is love that is the focus of Paul’s remarks in 1 Corinthians 13. What does Christian love mean? What are the signs of love?
First of all, love disposes us to honor God. It quickens a desire in our hearts for adoration. Do you enjoy the adoration of God in prayer, or is your prayer life merely endless petitions and requests? One of the signs of growing sanctification is an increasing accent on adoration in our prayers. We want more and more to honor God, to be enthralled with His majesty, and this is not natural to us in our sinful state. In short, love inclines us to worship.
Second, love gives credit to God’s Word. Love does not operate in a spirit of suspicion. When we love someone we are more prone to trust what they tell us. Also, today there is a mentality in some parts of the church that enjoys finding problems in Scripture, and this is not a manifestation of love.
Third, love in the heart acknowledges the right of God to govern, and not simply to govern the universe, but to govern me. Love melts the arrogance that is part of our fallen nature, and delights in the authority of God.
Fourth, love inclines us to desire justice for our neighbors. It moves us away from condemning and cheating and otherwise wronging our neighbor, toward giving him what is his due. It moves us away from slander and gossip, toward mercy and charitableness. Fifth, love disposes us toward contentment in whatever situation we find ourselves. This does not mean some kind of apathy, but it does mean that we are content with our lot even as we try to improve it. We are able to rejoice in the government of God, as He superintends our lives for our good.
If an evidence of loving God is adoration in prayer, spend five minutes today exalting God for who He is. Focus strictly on adoration, resisting the temptation to lapse into petitions, supplication or thanksgiving. Use the Psalms as models of adoration of God in prayer.
