How to Walk in Spiritual Love

Walking in the love of Almighty God is vital to real spiritual growth and development.

In fact, you cannot be a spiritually mature individual without loving God with all of your heart and without loving other people as you love yourself. The Lord Jesus Christ said that the two greatest commandments in the entire Word of God is to love.

Matthew 22: 37-39 (King James Version of the Bible)

"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

The reason loving God and loving people are the two great commandments is because they are the foundations of all the other commandments God has given. You simply cannot walk in the fullness of God without living by the law of LOVE.

This is where that we can discern the truly spiritual person from the highly religious. People who have a mere form of godliness cannot operate in the true love of God. Oh, they can pretend for a time, but the real man or woman of God exhibits a pure love which is the mark of the Christian. It cannot be mistaken, for it may go through trials and tribulations, persecutions and afflictions, and yet, it will emerge victorious, loving the offenders as if they never did anything. Real love is truly unmistakable.

God's love is already within the heart of every born again believer. Notice the following verse of Scripture from God's Holy Word.

Romans 5:5 (King James Version of the Bible)

"And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

So we already have His love within. This is one of the proofs that we have really experience the new birth from Heaven.

1 John 3:14 (King James Version of the Bible)

"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death."

Notice what the apostle John is saying in this passage of Scripture. He says that we know, not we guess or we hope, but we know that we have passed out of the realm of (spiritual) death, (which is separation from God and His Holy Nature), unto life, (which is the very Nature of God), because we love the brethren.

So love then, is the distinguishing mark of the true Christian, of the spiritual person. Love is, after all, a spiritual force. Real love is spiritual, not natural. Real love is like God, unchangeable, for God is Love and He never changes. (1 John 4:8, Malachi 3:6)

This is the reason God can command us love people and treat people as we would like for them to treat us. This is why we are told to love our enemies, blessing and speaking well of those who curse and speak evil of us, and doing good to those who despitefully use us and persecute us. (Matthew 5:45-48)

He has already deposited His Nature, which is love, inside of us, in our spirits. Understand that the new birth changes us and gives us the ability to live in the spirit. We have His love, His ability to love as He loves, regardless of how others may treat us. We can love them and through that Divine love, show them how good God is. His love in us is the light that must shine so that men may see our good works and glorify our Father which is in Heaven.

How does this love behave, you may ask? What are its characteristics?

The Word of God gives us the answer. But let us settle this matter right now. What God says in His Word is right, whether we agree with Him or not. He is right. So whatever He says love is and however He says that true love behaves is just how love is and how it behaves. He is right. Settle that in your soul.

Here is the God's description of the characteristics of real love:

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a(King James Version of the Bible)

"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; Charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth:"

Now let us look at the same passage of Scripture from The Amplified Bible:

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a (The Amplified Bible)

"Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealously, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]."

This is the character of love. This is how true love acts. Love is pure. Love is tender. Love is clean. God is holy. God is love. So love, real love is holy.

Real love for a person will never cheat on him or her or betray the trust of the prson loved. Real love will not lie to people. Real love does not commit adultery, in the mind or in body. Real love is holy.

Now, remember the great commandment given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Notice that, according to Matthew 22:37-39, we are told to love the Lord our God with our whole heart. As it pertains to loving the Lord our God with all of our hearts, minds, souls and strength, the absolute proof of loving God is obedience. Jesus said so:

John 14:15 (King James Version of the Bible)

"If ye love Me, keep My commandments."

The Master goes further and says that the one who loves Him will keep His commandments.