Food for the Way: Love
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:34-40)
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit...For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 4:4-8, 13)
Think of someone you know who has a magnetic personality: that friend of many who is amiable, charismatic, and seems to know everyone. In his book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell calls these types of people “connectors.” Just like strawberries that grow in bunches, they draw people together and make even new friends feel like family. They love easily and, in turn, are easy to love.
In considering this first aspect of Spiritual fruit, it feels like these types of people have an unfair advantage in cultivating love. My oldest daughter is one of these people. We call her “The Davis Family PR Representative.” From her perspective, pretty much anyone she comes in contact with is assumed to be totally great and, potentially, her new best friend. When she was three years old, one of her uncles described her as someone who looks at you and wholeheartedly believes that you are the best version of yourself.
My youngest daughter, on the other hand, is there to make sure that her big sister doesn’t get robbed. She’s much more slow to the draw with her relationships. But that doesn’t mean that she is any less loving. It just manifests itself differently—more slowly and cautiously, yet loyally and fiercely.
See, when it comes to love, none of us are off the hook. Jesus teaches in Matthew 22:34-40 that this virtue in particular takes top priority; he calls it “the great and first commandment.” Introverted or extroverted, Enneagram 2 or 8, we are all commissioned uniquely to love, and enabled to do so through the Spirit.
This doesn’t mean that we have to change our personalities. We can’t—and we shouldn’t. You don’t have to drip with warm fuzzies in order to fulfill this call. Just consider the varied ways that Jesus demonstrated love:
He publicly dumped on the important members of society, then crouched down to make eye contact with the marginalized.
He threw a holy temper tantrum in the middle of a temple, and yet gently raised the chin of a prostitute who was cowering in fear and shame.
He withdrew from people in order to honor his need for solitude and silence, yet responded to the spiritual needs of a thief in the midst of his own excruciating crucifixion.
Because love itself originates from a multifaceted God, we extend Biblical affection in the unique ways that fit us as individual bearers of his image. And as we each receive the diverse, unearned, and lavish delight of the Father, he transforms us into people who love like him.
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CONSIDER
How does your unique makeup allow you to love others?
What are ways you have experienced the varied expressions of love within the Church?
Have you ever been surprised by the way God shows his love to us? What if you were to widen your understanding of how God shows love to you, both in times of plenty and in want?
Reflect Further
Read Psalm 136 and note the varied ways God’s loving character comes through in his care for Israel. Where do you see that in his care for you? How can you mirror it?
Artwork by Tess Miller. Additional design by Rachel Lee.
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