“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” — Galatians 5:22-23 NIV

Love is a unique quality to the Christian faith. The emphasis on love is not to be compared in the sacred writings from other religions like it is in the Bible. It identifies God as love and speaks extensively of its value to our character. It also introduces us to different types of love in the human experience like a romantic love, a brotherly love, and a committed love. The love that God is defined with and the love that is the fruit of the Spirit is the committed unconditional love.

In this verse love is presented as the one fruit the Spirit of God bears in our lives. The word fruit is singular yet it is defined in plural as “joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” If you want to test your love and verify if it’s real committed unconditional love, look for its “joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” in your life.

This is the love that the Bible also tells us to have for one-another, which means we should bring others joy, peacefulness, kindness, and general goodness as we have opportunity. If you haven’t been conscientious about it, why not start today and share the love.