Some people think love is so basic, it’s something only spiritual beginners must study. They consider the gifts of the Spirit—like tongues and interpretation, the gifts of healings and miracles—as more relevant to the mature believer. But the gifts of the Spirit are not marks of spiritual maturity. The Corinthian church abounded in those gifts, yet the Apostle Paul referred to them as “mere infants…in Christ…still [unspiritual, having the nature] of the flesh” (1 Corinthians 3:1, 3, The Amplified Bible).

 

As wonderful as the gifts of the Spirit are, the Bible teaches that it’s the fruit of the spirit—“love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, [and] temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23)—that indicate a person is walking in the spirit and not the flesh.

 

If you want to know whether you’re a spiritual person or not, look to see if you are walking in love. You simply can’t walk in the spirit or be a spiritual person without being ruled by love. The reason I single out love is because it is the foundation upon which all the other fruit rest. The others flow out of love.

 

To find out just how important love is in the economy of God, read the first few verses of 1 Corinthians 13:

 

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing (verses 1-3, New International Version).

 

Love is the bottom line. Nothing counts without it. In short, you and I can’t go anywhere spiritually until we get our love walk straight!

 

No wonder the Bible tells us to “Eagerly pursue and seek to acquire [this] love [make it your aim, your great quest]” (1 Corinthians 14:1, The Amplified Bible). Living a life ruled by the love of God is what opens us up to walk in the spirit and live in the highest measure of the blessing and power of God!

 

That’s why Paul prayed that we would be able to know and experience “the love of Christ.” Because then we will be able to obtain “the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself” (Ephesians 3:19, The Amplified Bible).

 

One friend of mine says that love is the insulator. When we’re walking in love, God can manifest Himself in His holiness and power without blowing us away.