ll Timothy 1:7 “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity—of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear—but He has given us a spirit of power and of love and of calm and well balanced mind and discipline and self control.” (Amplified)

Today as we continue our series on “the gift” we are concentrating our thoughts on love.  Oh my goodness where do we start?  Like the previous word—power—there is so much to be said that it is impossible to begin to put it all into one blog. 

Perfect love in all its brilliance is generated through that power, while at the same time it enables the power to be utilized to its fullest potential.  In order to be filled with God’s amazing power we must completely know, understand, and experience His love.  And then that positions us to be able to conform to Paul’s exhortation In Ephesians 3:17 to be “rooted deep in love and founded securely on love.”  It is vitally important that we grow those deep roots and build our lives on that strong foundation. 

I Corinthians 13 provides some potent adjectives of how we are to exhibit the love God gives us and what it should look like.  Naming a few: it endures long, is patient, kind; not envious, jealous, or conceited.  Love exhibits a myriad of faces and personalities.  Love, which comes from God as a part of “the gift” is available to every Christian.  And it is strong enough, pervasive enough, encompassing  enough, potent enough to do what Paul says it will do in verse 7: it will bear up under anything and everything that comes; it can endure everything without weakening.    Then in verse 8 Paul states that this love never fails.  Wow!!!!

After having noted a list of Christian attributes in Colossians 3:14, Paul again addresses the importance of love by saying, “And over all these virtues put on love which binds them all together in unity.” ( NIV)  Or as the Amplified Bible translates it “in ideal harmony.”  Like individual notes in a symphony combine to make a lovely orchestration, so love takes individual godly virtues and combines them into a veritable cantata.  In other words love is so extremely important and absolutely necessary because it is the yeast, the glue, the energy, the magic that unites all noble traits of excellence.   

I John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love but perfect love drives out fear…”.  (NIV)  Real power comes when we set aside fear.  When fear is gone love flows freely.  When love flows freely fear is gone. That is why our topic passage opens with, “God has not given us a spirit of timidity…and fear…”, because love–perfect love–cannot exist along side either.  Love is like a little pac man–it eats up fear, timidity, cowardice.

Love is the key to opening all locked places.  I pray you will go and grow in love this coming week.

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