( Gen. 1:26 ; John 1:12-13 ; Rom. 8:14,19,28-29 ; Gal. 5:22-23 ) We are born of God. As children we are to be led by God's Spirit, to be obedient in order to develop the character of God. Fulfilling the will of God, we begin to exhibit the personality, attitude and behavior of Jesus Himself Who is the source of our being. It is by our fruits we are identified with Jesus. The fruit of the spirit requires diligent cultivation through obedience to His word by which we become overcomers. Thus, love is fulfilling of the law: For it was divine love which gave us the commandments, and it is by love that we must keep them.

( Matt. 5:44-48 ; Matt. 10:29-31 ; Matt. 22:37-39 ; 1 John 4:18 ) Fruit of the spirit begins with love. To love as the Father loves, each child of God must diligently cultivate and develop an individual love relationship with his heavenly Father. Increasing our love for the Father, to this extent, fear decreases. Loving God delivers us from the power of darkness characterized by sickness, oppression, etc. Loving God is vital to our health and well-being. God promised to take care of all our needs, so that we could be free to love God and others. Fear is the opposite of love for it centers itself on self.

( Heb. 13:5,61 ; 1 Cor. 13:8 ; 1 John 4:8 ; Rom. 8:31 ) Fruit of love toward the Father enables a person to conquer all things. God is love, and God can never fail. The more we develop love for the Father, the less we will fail in our individual lives.

( Rom. 8:28,37 ; John 14:21 ) Root of most problems stem from our failure to love God by not obeying His commandments. The more we obey, the more we will conquer trials, and more things will work for our good. God is for me personally. The more I get to know Him, the clearer the comprehension is that the knowledge of loving God is the key to victorious living.

( Mark 11:22-24 ; John 5:17-19 ; Eph. 5:1,3 ; Heb. 11:5-6 ) To have faith in God means to know God, and to know God is to cultivate the practice of realizing the Presence of God within: by developing sight of God, and by calling upon His name immediately whenever we have a need. Call upon the Lord to give you the words to say, the manner it is to be said, and any actions that are to be taken. Realize you can do nothing of yourself.

( 1 John 4:4,8 ; Matt. 14:1-14 ; Heb. 4:15 ) Our first obligation in any situation is to love. When tempted not to love, this distances or clouds our contact with the Father. Do as Jesus did, when tempted upon hearing the news of John the Baptist: he pulled away by Himself to pray, to spend time with the Father, to get His perspective. Then He went and did the loving and responsible thing.

( Jude 20-21 ; Acts 2:4 ; 1 Cor. 14:2 ) Visualize and develop the sight of the Father, pray in the spirit which stirs up the love of God within. Use, cultivate, and exercise love regardless of the others' response.

( 1 John 4:8,12 ; John 1:1 ; Matt. 18:15 ; John 15:13 ) Developing the Presence of God, praying in the spirit requires that we practice a love action. God is the word. Love then is putting the word of God into practice which is cultivating the fruit of love in our lives. Love to the Father is cultivating the fruit of love by spending time in the word, praying in the spirit, and performing acts of love.