Living in Agape

I’ve just returned from a trip to Greece over the Christmas holidays—days filled with travel, quiet moments, and a number of services where I had the privilege of ministering and being among believers who love Jesus deeply. And something kept happening in those gatherings that I couldn’t ignore. Over and over, in the natural rhythm of the Greek language, I heard one word spoken with ease and familiarity: agape.

Not as a theological term. Not as a “churchy” word. But spoken plainly—almost like it belonged in the air. And every time I heard it, something in my spirit stirred. It was as if the Lord was tapping me on the shoulder and saying, “Don’t rush past this. This is where I want to bring you back. This is the realm I want you to walk in.”

Because when you hear a word like agape repeated—not once, not twice, but consistently—it stops being background noise. It becomes a signpost. And that’s what triggered me to write about agape love at this point. Not because it’s a trendy theme, but because I’m convinced the Spirit is calling the church back to something foundational: a walk that is powered by divine love, expressed through Spirit-led obedience, and matured into real holiness—not by strain, but by surrender.

When I say, “I want to walk as a Christian,” I’m not talking about a label I wear or a badge I flash. I’m talking about a life that moves—step by step—under the weight of glory, under the gaze of God, and under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. I’m talking about a daily rhythm where Christ is not just my Savior in history, but my Lord in the moment. Because Christianity is not primarily a system you agree with. It’s a Person you follow. And the call of Jesus has never been, “Think about Me from a distance.” The call has always been, “Follow Me.”

And if we’re honest, this is where many believers feel tension. We love Jesus, but we still wrestle. We want holiness, but we still feel the pull of old appetites. We want to obey, but sometimes obedience can feel like pressure instead of pleasure. We want to live clean, but there are days when the soul feels noisy and the flesh feels loud.

So the question becomes: what does it actually mean to walk with God in a way that transforms my desires, not just my behavior?

The answer Scripture keeps bringing me back to is this: the Christian life is not sustained by willpower—it is sustained by love. And not just any love. The love of God. The kind of love the Bible calls agape.

Walking in the Realm of Agape Love

Agape love is not sentimental. It’s not fragile. It’s not merely an emotion that rises and falls with moods. Agape is divine love—holy love—love that chooses righteousness, love that endures, love that forgives, love that bears burdens, love that lays down its life. It is not merely that God has love. Scripture says God is love (1 John 4:8). So when we talk about walking in agape, we are talking about walking in the very nature of God being formed in us and expressed through us.

And here’s the miracle: God does not command you to walk in agape while leaving you empty. He supplies what He requires. Romans 5:5 says that the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. In other words, agape is not something you manufacture. It is something you receive and then release. It begins as an impartation before it becomes a demonstration.

This is where walking as a Christian becomes more than moral effort. It becomes spiritual life. Because you can imitate love outwardly for a season, but you cannot sustain it without the Spirit. You can be polite without the Spirit, but you cannot love enemies without the Spirit. You can hold your tongue without the Spirit, but you cannot bless those who curse you without the Spirit. You can keep up appearances without the Spirit, but you cannot live in purity of heart without the Spirit.

Agape doesn’t just change how you treat people. It changes what kind of person you are. It reaches into motives, reactions, assumptions, secret resentments, hidden pride, and self-protection. It is the love of God that begins to expose the parts of us that are not like Him—not to shame us, but to heal us. Because the love of God does not merely pardon sin. It also purifies the heart.

And that is why walking as a Christian is not simply walking away from sin. It is walking toward Someone. It is moving deeper into Jesus.

Abiding: The Secret Place Where Transformation Becomes Normal

Jesus did not design Christianity to be lived at a distance. He did not say, “Visit Me on Sundays.” He said, “Abide in Me.” In John 15, He gave a picture that is both simple and confrontational: “I am the vine; you are the branches… he who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

That word abide is not casual. It means to remain, to dwell, to stay, to live from. It is a picture of continuous union. And when union becomes the reality of your walk, fruit stops being forced. Fruit begins to grow.

Some people are exhausted because they’re trying to produce fruit without abiding. They’re trying to obey without intimacy. They’re trying to resist temptation without feeding on presence. But Jesus never called us to behavior management. He called us to spiritual life.

And this is what I’ve learned: the more I abide, the more my appetite changes. The more I draw near, the more I start craving what pleases Him. The more I stay in His presence, the less attractive compromise becomes. Sin loses its sweetness when your heart is satisfied by Christ.

That doesn’t mean temptation disappears overnight. But it does mean temptation loses its authority. It no longer rules you from the inside. Because love is beginning to rule.

Obedience Is Not the Root—Love Is the Root

There is a scripture that is one of the most revealing statements Jesus ever made about discipleship: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). That sentence is not Jesus trying to control people. That sentence is Jesus revealing the order of the kingdom.

He didn’t say, “Keep My commandments so you can earn My love.” He said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” That means obedience is not the doorway into relationship. Relationship is the doorway into obedience.

This is where many believers get stuck. They think the issue is, “How do I obey better?” But often the deeper issue is, “How do I love Him more?” Because when love grows, obedience becomes less of a negotiation and more of a joyful yes.

Let me say it another way: rules can restrain you for a season, but love transforms you for a lifetime. External pressure can modify behavior temporarily, but inward affection—Spirit-breathed affection—rewires the heart.

This is why the New Testament doesn’t only emphasize duty. It emphasizes devotion. It doesn’t only talk about resisting sin; it talks about setting your affection on things above (Colossians 3:1–2). It doesn’t only say, “Stop doing wrong.” It says, “Fix your eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2). Because what you behold, you become. And what you love, you follow.

So yes—obedience matters. The commandments matter. But the engine behind obedience is not fear. It’s love.

The Holy Spirit: The Power Source for a Real Christian Walk

Now this is where walking as a Christian becomes impossible without the third Person of the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is not optional equipment for the extra-spiritual believer. The Holy Spirit is the indwelling life of God in the believer. He is the One who makes Jesus real, who makes Scripture alive, who convicts, comforts, empowers, and transforms.

Romans 8 says that those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit (Romans 8:5). That means walking as a Christian is not merely about avoiding certain sins. It is about walking according to a different power, a different nature, a different governance.

The flesh is not just your body. The flesh is the old way of living—self-driven, self-protective, self-exalting. It can look religious, but it is still self-centered. The Spirit is the life of Christ within you—God-centered, truth-driven, love-powered. And when you yield to the Spirit, you are not merely choosing a better lifestyle. You are yielding to the government of God.

This is why Galatians 5 says, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). Notice that: it doesn’t say, “Fight the flesh until you finally win.” It says, “Walk in the Spirit.” It gives a strategy that is relational, not mechanical. The victory over the flesh is not just confrontation—it is replacement. When the Spirit fills your life, the flesh loses room to dominate you.

And the Holy Spirit doesn’t only give power to preach or heal. He gives power to live. He gives power to forgive. Power to stay pure. Power to stay humble. Power to stay soft in a hard world. Power to love when your emotions want to shut down. Power to obey when your old nature wants to argue.

That is Christianity.

The Commandments as a Love Language, Not a Legal Weight

When Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments,” He was not laying a burden on His people. He was describing what love does. Love listens. Love honors. Love responds. Love does not treat God casually.

And here is the shift that changes everything: when obedience becomes love-language, you stop obeying to prove something, and you start obeying because you value Someone.

A person who is merely trying to be “a good Christian” may obey until the pressure becomes too heavy. But a person who is falling in love with Jesus will obey even when no one sees—because love cares what the beloved thinks.

Jesus also said, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me… and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21). That is a promise of intimacy. That is Jesus saying: when love leads you into obedience, something opens. Something is revealed. Something is manifested.

There is a spiritual reality to obedience that many people don’t talk about. Obedience is not only moral. It is spiritual. It is agreement with God. And when you agree with God, you come under the flow of His presence.

Disobedience dulls sensitivity. Obedience sharpens it. Disobedience grieves the Spirit. Obedience hosts Him. And when the Spirit is hosted, the heart becomes transformed from the inside out.

What Gets Activated in the Spiritual Realm When Love Leads Your Walk

When obedience flows from loving Christ, something does get activated in the spiritual realm. Scripture gives us language for it, even if it doesn’t always use that exact phrase.

Love creates alignment. When you love Jesus, your will starts bending toward His will. And when your will aligns with His will, heaven can trust you with more. Jesus said, “If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know…” (John 7:17). Willingness precedes clarity. Love produces willingness. Willingness produces spiritual discernment.

Love produces spiritual authority. Authority is not volume. Authority is not personality. Authority is alignment. When you obey from love, you are stepping into agreement with the government of God, and agreement releases authority.

Love cleanses the inner world. When you love Jesus, you don’t only avoid external sin—you start asking Him to purify internal places: motives, thoughts, resentments, secret pride. And as the inner world becomes clean, the outer life becomes steady. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). Purity increases spiritual sight. Spiritual sight changes the way you walk.

Love increases spiritual hunger. A person who tries to obey out of fear often becomes rigid and dry. But a person who obeys out of love becomes hungry. Love makes you want more of Him. And hunger positions you for deeper encounters that change you.

This is the pathway to holiness that is not manufactured. It is the fruit of abiding.

Can We Live Sin-Free? What Holiness Really Means in This World

Now to the question beneath many hearts: is it possible to become sinless in this world?

Let me answer it with both faith and humility.

Scripture is clear that the call of God is holiness: “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). Scripture is also clear that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), and that sin is not meant to dominate the believer’s life: “Sin shall not have dominion over you” (Romans 6:14). God also provides a way of escape from temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). And 1 John speaks strongly about not continuing in sin as a lifestyle.

At the same time, Scripture warns against self-deception: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves” (1 John 1:8), and it calls us to ongoing confession and cleansing (1 John 1:9).

So here’s the way I frame it: the Christian walk is meant to mature into real victory over sin—not through the flesh, but through the Spirit. It is absolutely possible to live free from habitual, dominating sin. It is possible to walk in a clean conscience, purity, obedience, and tender intimacy with Jesus. And it is true that the more love matures, the more sin loses power.

But we also remain watchful and dependent—not in condemnation, but in communion. The goal isn’t to wear “sinless” like a trophy. The goal is to live so close to Jesus that compromise has no oxygen. The goal is quick conviction, quick repentance, quick cleansing, and continual abiding.

Holiness is not arrogance. Holiness is surrender.

Love Makes You Hate What Hurts the One You Love

One of the greatest transformations in the Christian walk is when you stop asking, “How far can I go and still be okay?” and you start asking, “How close can I stay to Him?”

Because love does that. When you love someone, you don’t want to wound them. You don’t want to betray trust. You don’t want to live double-minded. You begin to guard the relationship. You guard the atmosphere. You guard the heart.

That is the mark of maturity.

A child avoids consequences. A mature lover avoids grieving the beloved.

Paul said, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (Ephesians 4:30). That is not a threat—it’s a love appeal. It is Scripture saying: you carry Someone. You are a temple. You host the presence. Walk accordingly.

When love becomes real, obedience becomes protective. You start saying no to things not merely because they are “sin,” but because they dull your sensitivity. They cloud discernment. They steal fire. They contaminate the inner world. They interrupt communion.

And you begin to realize: the Christian walk is not just about being right—it’s about being near.

The Coming Day: When This Becomes Normal by the Spirit, Not the Flesh

And I want to say this plainly—there is coming a day when what feels difficult now will become natural then. Not because human nature finally improved, and not because the church finally learned a better system, but because the Holy Spirit will bring the people of God into a deeper realm of yieldedness and purity—by power, not by flesh.

Because the end goal of God has never been a church that tries to look like Jesus. The end goal is a church that actually lives from Jesus—where Christ is not merely admired, but expressed; not merely preached, but embodied.

This is why Scripture says, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the LORD of hosts (Zechariah 4:6). What God is going to do in His people cannot be manufactured by discipline alone. It will not be produced by religious strain. It will not come by human willpower. It will come by surrender, and it will be sustained by the Spirit.

And here’s the part the world will not be able to ignore: when the Spirit forms Christ in a believer, arguments can’t compete with the reality of God.

That’s what made the book of Acts so compelling. It wasn’t that the early church had flawless presentations. It wasn’t that they had sophisticated strategy. It was that they carried a Presence. They walked in a love that was not normal. They walked in a unity that was not human. They walked in a courage that did not come from personality. They walked in a purity that was not self-made. And they walked in a power that could only be explained by heaven.

Acts says they devoted themselves to fellowship, to breaking of bread, and to prayers—and then it says, “fear came upon every soul,” and many wonders and signs were done (Acts 2:42–43). There was a holy weight on their lives. Their devotion produced demonstration. Their intimacy released authority. Their love became a witness.

And I believe with all my heart that as the age closes, the Lord is going to restore this again—not as nostalgia, not as imitation, but as restoration. Because in the end of the age, the world is not going to be won by Christians who can argue better. The world will be won by believers who look like Jesus.

People are exhausted by hypocrisy. They are tired of religious noise. But when they meet someone who genuinely carries agape love—love that blesses enemies, love that forgives, love that refuses compromise, love that stays pure in a polluted generation—they encounter something rare. And rare things draw attention.

Jesus said, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). He didn’t say, “If you have perfect sermons.” He didn’t say, “If you win every debate.” He said, “If you have love.” And that love is not sentimental. It’s Spirit-empowered covenant love. It’s a love that becomes one of the most potent evangelistic forces of the last days.

In that day, holiness will not look like religious pride. It will look like Jesus. It will look like humility and purity and compassion and courage. It will look like believers who cannot be bribed by compromise. It will look like people who don’t need to be seen, because they already live before the face of God. It will look like Christians who don’t just talk about forgiveness—they forgive. Who don’t just talk about purity—they walk in it. Who don’t just preach power—they carry it. Who don’t just speak about love—they embody it.

And it will not be by flesh.

It will be by the Holy Spirit.

How to Walk This Out Practically Without Falling Back into Striving

So how do we walk as Christians in this realm—without turning it into performance?

We return to the simplicity of devotion.

We make it our aim to love Jesus more—not as a slogan, but as a daily choice. We cultivate the presence of God. We practice abiding. We train our heart to prefer Him. We guard what grieves the Spirit. We feed on the Word not as information, but as communion. We worship not to feel something, but to behold Someone. We repent quickly when conviction comes, not out of shame, but out of love. And we ask the Holy Spirit to fill us again—because yesterday’s manna will not sustain today’s war.

We begin to understand that holiness is not you trying to be like Christ. Holiness is Christ living His life through you as you yield.

And the most powerful prayers are often the simplest:

“Holy Spirit, lead me today.”

“Jesus, I love You—teach me to love You more.”

“Father, form Your nature in me.”

“Let my obedience be love, not labor.”

“Let me abide until fruit becomes inevitable.”

Because walking as a Christian is not one dramatic moment. It is a thousand small surrenders. It is a daily yes. It is the steady choice to stay near.

And I believe this with all my heart: the deeper you walk in agape love, the more obedience will flow. The more obedience flows, the more the Spirit’s presence will rest. The more His presence rests, the more sin loses dominion. The more sin loses dominion, the more Christ is seen.

And when Christ is seen—people will be drawn.

Not to religion.

To Jesus.

And that is what it means to walk as a Christian.

Much love.