Love / Selflessness
I. Love is the most important and most powerful quality that a believer can have (1 Corinthians 13:13).
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A loving believer is most like God, as God is love (1 John 4:8, Matthew 5:44-45,48).
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A loving believer will also possess all other fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
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Focus on love, and you will be the most like Christ that you can be.
II. Love is primarily shown through two things (John 15:13-15):
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Relationship (1 John 3:1, John 13:1).
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God showed love, first, by sending His Son into the world to become friends with people, especially His disciples (John 15:15).
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Invest time in others, to build closer relationship with them, and you will be showing love.
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Sacrifice (John 15:13, 1 John 3:16, Romans 5:8)
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While relationship is being built, do what is inconvenient or uncomfortable for you in order to serve or help someone else. This is sacrificial love (it's selfless).
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If “love” involves some benefit for yourself, it isn't love at all (1 Corinthians 13:5). True love is always inconvenient—when you labor to improve someone else's life and faith at your own expense, whether that means you sacrifice time, money, or energy.
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It is especially loving if you do good for those who have done evil to you (Matthew 5:43-48).
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III. As a way to start growing in love, read through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and make note of everywhere you see Jesus nurturing relationships and sacrificing something for someone else.
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Also note how you can mimic Jesus' love in your own life. Then take action, and you will grow!