The Fruits: Love

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.

Galatians 5:22

    If you grew up going to church or Vacation Bible School, then you can probably recite this verse by singing a song. As a Christian, these fruits should be evident in your life because of the work that Christ has done in your life. It's easy to criticize others and point out how these fruits aren't evident in their lives, but sometimes it can be even harder to find people who are portraying these fruits. Recently, I've been thinking more about who I surround myself with, and how God has placed each one of these people in my life for a specific purpose. In this new series, I will be writing about how I see one fruit portrayed by people in my life. And the topic for this week is love!

    As a kid, I had a skewed view of my grandpa. To me, he was just Pops. The guy who loved candy, always played with the kids during holidays, and who was always down for an adventure. As I got older, I realized that he meant a lot more to other people as well. 

    

    If you know my family well, you know that my grandfather was David Holmes. He worked at Christian Heritage Academy for almost 50 years, and even when he retired, they still kept an office for him. When I was younger, we would visit him in the hospital sometimes because of his heart problems. I didn't think much of it, but he had more health issues than we could count. Truthfully, he shouldn't have made it as long as he did. But by the grace of God, I had 16 wonderful years with him. 

    In all the pictures I have with him, I'm always smiling; not just for the cameras, but because that's the type of guy Pops was. Whenever I was with him, I was always laughing and smiling; I always had a good time. Above everything else, he was so good at loving people. Every person who ever met him always has a kind story, and most people will remark on how kind and loving he was.

    As I became older, I became more aware of his heart. In Deuteronomy chapter 6, Moses has just delivered The 10 Commandments to the Israelites. In verse 5, he says 

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates." 

This command was so great and so important that the Israelites were commanded to write it on their heads and on the gates of their city. It was to be evident in their daily lives; their love for the Lord should outweigh everything else in their life. This command didn't become null when Christ died, but it became even greater. We are commanded to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and love our neighbors as ourselves. If there's anything I can learn from my grandpa in that regard, it's how to love the Lord and love others well.

    

    When he passed away in 2023, it was something that changed my family tremendously. We held a private service for the family where we all shared memories with Pops, all of them talking about the love he had for his family. For his memorial service, more than 1,000 people showed up, and that's when it hit me: these people were here for my grandpa. For Pops. 

    As I've gotten older, loving others is something that I have specifically tried to implement in my life. Not just loving people, but loving them well. To me, Pops was a great example of this. Pops devoted his life to loving the Lord and following His commands. He served Him faithfully in church, at school, by going on mission trips multiples times a year, in his family, in his relationships with others, and so much more. 

    When thinking about the person in my life who has modeled Biblical love, there wasn't a doubt in my mind about who I wanted to write about. As a challenge to you, when I write these posts, I want you to think of someone in your life who reminds you of these fruits. The Lord places people in our lives for a specific purpose, so I encourage you to take some time to think about Galatians 5:22 these next few weeks.