Page 129 - THE MAN IN LOVE

The Man In Love
The goal of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is to come to the ‘knowledge’ of the Son of God, is to come “a perfect man,” and into “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” It is toward growing into Christ, the head of the church. We therefore, have the responsibility as husbands, to build ourselves up in the love of God through the Holy Spirit, and become increasingly like Jesus. As we do this, we grow in the nature of Christ’s love and expressing it to our wives become virtually natural. When we grow in love as husbands, it will be difficult not to express what has become our nature to our wives, our very first neighbor.
Recall from earlier chapters that we identified the desire of God for us to bear fruit (John 15:2) and that Jesus in turn called us to bear fruit (John 15:16). As we bear fruit, especially that of love, it becomes a sign that we are progressing towards attaining the nature and fullness of Christ (John 15:8). The custodian of fruit that God desires is the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit in our lives, we will develop, grow and manifest the fruit that pleases God. Galatians 5:22 identifies love as the lead attribute of the nine (9) attributes of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. If we are serious
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