Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. But we don’t need to write to you about the importance of loving each other, for God himself has taught you to love one another. – (1 Thessalonians 4:8-9)
God keeps on giving us the vitally empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
One of the great blessings about this presence is that God pours love into our hearts through the Spirit (Rom. 5:5). Along with the great example of God’s love in sending Jesus (John 3:16-17), the Father uses the Spirit to teach us to know how to love each other.
This is part of the Spirit’s fruit (Gal. 5:22) as well as the work of the Spirit to bring us into fellowship (2 Cor. 13:14), that holds us together in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:3-4), and fills us as we submit to one another (Eph. 5:17-21). Loving each other is not only a command, it is also part of God’s continuing work in us through the Holy Spirit.
Prayer : Dear God, I confess that I do not always love others as I should. I ask you to make me more like Jesus in my love for others. I am thankful for the presence of the Holy Spirit to help me see those whom I need to show your love and to empower me to love them when it is difficult. In Jesus’ name I pray for this grace. Amen.
