Every year I used to choose a word as a focal point. Then it evolved to a scripture for the year. Then I set that aside altogether, too busy to focus at all.
In my post-hustle era I have returned to the basics. Back to a word and scripture for the year, but this year as I am a little over a month away from 41, the Holy Spirit gave me a giggle. I'm now calling this decade, my fruity forties.
What?
As I was praying on the word of the year - the scripture above kept coming back to me. The fruits of the spirit - Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control - are key signs of a maturing Christian.
Of course we're still sinners in a fallen world, so we're never going to achieve these perfectly, but the question kept prompting me, what if I really dove in whole hog to each one? What could I learn? How could it help me grow? (Could I ever memorize the scripture?? A true weak point with my squirrel brain.)
And the Holy Spirit in generosity even fed my love of alliteration - I'm in my forties, the fruits of the spirit are key guide posts -- Fruit + Forties. 41 with 9 fruits of the spirit -- This will see me to my 50s!
So - 2026 - Word of the Year: Love.
I reached immediately for the heart stickers and flowers! Time to bust out the pink pens to decorate my planner, but ... paused.
After all I had a hint that the love mentioned here wasn't just a Hallmark channel love. Being in the Bible it had to be so much deeper.
Word study time!
Love in this scripture is a Greek word, agape (ἀγάπη). This is considered the foundational virtue from which all others spring and actually depicts God's love for us. Let's pause right there for a minute. Wow! God's love for us. Definitely not just hearts and flowers. After all that love He had for us had Him send His only son, Jesus, to die for our sins.
It is also love that only the Holy Spirit can produce in us. We as humans are driven by our animal natures to survive, horde food, secure our tribe, man against man, resources must be ours. The Holy Spirit disrupts this, it brings us God's power to love in a selfless, unconditional, sacrificial way. It encourages us to seek the best for others over ourselves.
The clearest image that comes to mind is a mother who wakes in the dead of night to endlessly pace and rock a crying child. In her human-ness she wants sleep and quiet. In her God given role with the power of the Holy Spirit she wants more for the comfort of her child than herself.
Agape love is a conscious decision. It says I love you so much I will do this thing for you, even though it does not benefit me. It reminds me in the business world of the often used saying "a rising tide lifts all ships" (attributed to John F Kennedy). By being the rising tide, by loving unconditionally we lift those around us, who in turn can lift those around them. A stone dropped in a pool of water causing ripples ever outward.
Be the stone. Love, not just in a fluffy way, love the agape way. That is my goal for 2026.
Now please don't mishear this. I am in no way up to this task. In fact when I finished the word study I very 'reverently' told God nope. No way could I succeed at this. To which he, very patiently (oh boy when I get to that one I'm going to really be up a creek with only the Holy Spirit as a paddle!!) said to me, "yes my daughter, I am up to this task, for you."
Hard to argue with that.
So as I move into the next nine years, working through the fruits of the Spirit, and praying for the supernatural strength, I encourage those around me to do the same.
If we are all stones, how big might those ripples grow?