The first of the fruits of the Spirit
Divine inspiration tells us through the words of the Apostle Paul that the fruits of the Spirit are “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control,” and that “there is no law against such things” (Gal. 5:22).
Thus He shows us that love is the first of the fruits of the Spirit.
Today let us contemplate the virtue of love, which is:
The first of the fruits of the Spirit
A human being is supposed to be a temple of the Holy Spirit, with the Spirit of God dwelling within him. And the Lord Christ sent us the Holy Spirit so that He may dwell in us forever, that He may work in us and through us, and that His work in us may bear fruits—the fruits of the Spirit.
At the forefront of the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, and peace. Let us begin today with the virtue of love and its relationship to joy and peace.
The most important thing I want to speak to you about today concerning love is: the love of God and the love of goodness. Each of these leads to the other.
The love of God leads to the love of goodness and virtue. And the love of goodness and virtue leads to the love of God. Each strengthens the other.
If a person loves goodness, he has no struggle with evil.
Many people waste their lives struggling with sin or resisting the devil, hoping thereby to reach a life of repentance. And the life of repentance is distance from the sin they love.
But the person who loves goodness has risen above the level of repentance and above the level of struggle with sin. The phrase “the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh” applies to beginners, those who strive against a flesh not yet subjected to the spirit. But the pure, righteous flesh that loves goodness does not lust against the spirit.
The person who loves goodness does not struggle to reach repentance; rather, all his striving is for growth in the love of God and the love of goodness.
It is positive striving, not negative striving… it is a movement from one level of holiness to a higher one.
It is delightful striving without toil…
The one who struggles and becomes weary is the one who resists himself—his own self that does not love virtue but loves darkness more than light. But the one who loves goodness has entered the rest of the Lord; he has entered His unending Sabbath, progressing from good to greater good, without toil and without forcing himself.
The virtue of “forcing oneself” does not belong to saints who love goodness. For those who love goodness do not force themselves into it, but do it naturally, effortlessly.
The one who loves goodness does not find the commandment of God burdensome, but loves the law of the Lord: “His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.”
The Apostle John spoke truly when he said, “And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). We feel that the commandments of the Lord are not heavy when we love them and sing of them, saying, “The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart” (Ps. 18). The one who loves the Lord and loves virtue has risen above the demands of the law and entered into love…
He does good without commandment, but by his good nature. He does not need a commandment calling him to goodness.
He does good because goodness is part of his being—as the image of God. He does good as something ordinary, natural, like the breath he breathes, without feeling inwardly that he is doing anything extra or remarkable.
Therefore he does not boast of the good, for in his eyes it is something natural…
But the one who does not love goodness finds the commandment of God heavy. Thus often there is enmity between him and God! He feels that God is taking away his pleasure (which inclines toward sin). He feels that God’s commandment restricts him and tries to lead him in ways he does not desire… Thus he sees God’s path as difficult and walks in it only reluctantly.
Of this type who does not love goodness is the existential atheist who sees the existence of God as an obstacle to his own existence…
That is, he does not feel his own existence if he believes in God’s existence; therefore he says, “It is better that God does not exist, so that I may exist”…! All because he does not love goodness. And his lack of love for goodness has led him to a lack of love for God. For this reason, when the prodigal son wanted to enjoy his freedom and his personality, he left his father’s house…!
But the one who loves goodness has no enmity with God.
For there is agreement between his will and the will of God.
He loves God and finds in Him his highest ideals; he loves in Him the goodness he desires. God becomes his longing and his delight.
The one who loves goodness lives in constant joy and peace…
As the Scripture says, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice.” He rejoices in the Lord because he finds his delight in living with Him, and finds that the will of God is his will, and his will is God’s will.
When then does a person begin to lose the love of God and the love of goodness?
When he begins to know evil, taste it, and delight in it.
This is the temptation with which Satan trapped the first humans. Adam and Eve knew only goodness; he led them into the knowledge of good and evil. That is, to their knowledge of good he added the knowledge of evil.
Man began to experience evil, and a relationship and affection developed between him and evil.
There are things which are better for a person not to know or experience. Of such the Scripture says, “He who increases knowledge increases sorrow”…
Satan said to Eve, “On the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened.” But it would have been better for them if their eyes had not been opened to that kind of knowledge. Would that man knew only good—then he would live happily. He would live loving people because he knows only the good in them and nothing else.
A time will come, in the blessed eternity, when we shall vomit out the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, and we shall know only good once more.
God will erase from our memory all the evil we have seen under the sun, and nothing will remain in us except goodness alone—we shall know it, contemplate it, experience it, taste it, and grow in love for it… and practice it with love.
We shall not do good out of compulsion, or command, or self-forcing, but we shall do good out of love for good.
Be assured that when God weighs your works in eternity to see what good is in them, He will weigh the love in them. God will take from your works only the love in them, and He will reward you only according to the love they contain.
How is this principle applied in our lives and deeds?
Take service as an example: it is not merely activity or toil or sermons, but: do you serve while loving people, loving their salvation, loving the building of the Church and the kingdom? Do you love God who loves them, who wants them to love Him? Be assured that God will take from your service only the love in it…
Thus the one who succeeds in service is the one who sees it as love. The love of God and people leads him to serve them. And the more he serves them, the more he loves them, and thus the more he serves them. The same applies to charity…
It is not merely obedience to a commandment, for the Scripture says, “God loves a cheerful giver.” It is not your money that counts before God, but the love—the love that rises above the level of tithes, firstfruits, and vows, above the level of numbers, giving generously without reproach.
The first fruit of the Holy Spirit is love. Therefore when the Lord rebuked the angel of the church in Ephesus and called him to repentance, He summed up all His rebuke in a single phrase, without mentioning any particular sin, saying:
“I have this against you, that you have left your first love” (Rev. 2:4).
Because of this love the Lord said, “My son, give Me your heart.” And if you give Me this heart, then “your eyes will observe My ways.” Thus obedience to the commandments becomes a natural result of love.
Many people walked in a life of repentance outwardly, but did not walk in the love that is inward; thus their relationship with God became forms, practices, and rituals—not love—and their life failed…
When the Lord Jesus Christ was asked, “Which commandment is the greatest in the law?” He answered that it is love in its two parts: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart… and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On this love hang all the Law and the Prophets.
Many will say to Him on that day, “Lord, in Your name we prophesied, and in Your name we cast out demons…” But He will leave all of this aside and ask them about the love within them.
It is not a matter of miracles and gifts, for many have perished despite their gifts. Thus the Apostle, after speaking about the spiritual gifts, said, “I will show you a more excellent way”… and he spoke about love.
In proportion to our love for God will be our joy in Him in eternity, and our happiness.
One star will differ from another in glory, and this glory will be determined by love.
And if you love God, you will not fear, because love casts out fear… If you love, you will not fear God, nor sin, nor people, nor death…
By love a person lives in constant joy—rejoicing in the Lord who leads him in His triumphal procession, from good to greater good, rejoicing in his enjoyment of the Lord, and because sin has no place in his heart and no standing.
He may indeed experience wars and resistances from the devil, but these are outward troubles only, while inwardly peace reigns. Thus love, joy, and peace dwell together in his heart.
I want you to train yourselves in this love. Leave the outward forms of the spiritual life and enter into the depth of love. And love will never fail.
Peter denied his Master, and cursed and swore, saying, “I do not know the Man.” But the Lord asked him only one question: “Do you love Me?” And Peter answered,
“Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”
By this love he obtained forgiveness and returned to his apostolic rank.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III in Al-Keraza Magazine, Year Six – (Issue 34), 22-8-1975.
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