The apple: the apple has been used to represent love. Maybe it is because people believe that Eve ate an apple and gave it to Adam. They think that the apple was the forbidden fruit, the fruit of love.
They could be right, in the sense that if the apple was that fruit, it would represent love, but a different kind of love. It would represent a self-serving love, a self-interest-love.
Eve ate the fruit because the fruit looked good, it seemed delicious, and she thought that she would be like God. As you can see, they could not be more wrong. An apple was not the fruit; nobody knows which fruit it was, but God, Adam and Eve.
Love is the first part of the fruit in Paul’s list, Galatians 5: 22-23. It is not by chance. Paul wants us to know that love is the beginning of the whole thing. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul connects love with Jesus Christ, “1Tim. 1:14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”
There is no Christian life without love. The challenge for us is to know the real love and what it means.
Definition of Love: The word love in the New Testament has a few different and interesting meanings.
In NT times three words for love were used by the Greek-speaking world. The first is eros, referring to erotic or sexual love.
The word phileo (and its cognates) refers to tender affection, such as toward a friend or family member.
The word agapao (and its cognate agape) is rarely used in extra biblical Greek. This love was used by believers to denote the special unconditional love of God. It involves will and action more than feelings. It is this love that Paul is mentioning here.
Let us see what kind of love this is :
1 – An Altruistic Love
The love of Christ is not a narcissistic love. It is a love that looks out of ourselves. Pay attention to the needs around us. It is a love that serves those in need, no matter if we will receive a reward for that or not.
“Eph. 5:1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children”
“Eph. 5:2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
A love toward:
- God
“Matt. 22:37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’”
- Family
“Eph. 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her”
- Friends
“John 11:3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.””
“John 11:5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.”
- Disciples
“Rom. 14:15 If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died.”
“1John 3:23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.”
- People who rejected Him
“Mark 10:21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.””
- Even the enemies
“Luke 6:27 “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,”
“Luke 6:28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
“Rom. 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Yes, it is a love that puts others first.
Have a blessed week,
Pastor Lucas