photo credit: sxc.hu
Genuine Love
Romans 12:9 (ESV) Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
Genuine love is something Jesus revealed to everyone he crossed paths with – to a blind man, to a rich man, to a prostitute, to his followers and disciples. He demonstrated his love countless times to people we would be afraid of, abhor, or judge. I have only known a few people in my life who have possessed this same rare beautiful trait. Genuine spiritual love is something I do not possess, but it is a Christ-like trait I pray to attain and model. Unfortunately, the enemy is always on the attack knocking and pinning me down to the ground, keeping me from reaching out to others and sharing this loving behavior as Jesus did.
For so many of us, to have and share genuine love towards each other seems an impossible daunting task. Why is sharing genuine love such a hard task? Because for many of us, we tend to hold onto the past, despite the fact that we have asked for forgiveness from our Lord and Savior; we hold grudges, are hypocritical, we can hide behind barriers due to fear; many hide behind a false mask portraying a loving nature, when in reality it is all about displaying a great show, it is all lies. We constantly come up with excuses (which I am very guilty of) such as, “well, they don’t like me, or I don’t know that person, or he or she looks scary or weird, or I have problems talking to people,” the list of excuses goes on and on. All the while, the enemy snickers and slithers all around us, laughing at us, tormenting us, and trying to bring us down to our knees. He gloats when our hearts and souls are broken. The enemy thinks he has triumphed over each and every one of us. He knows if he can drive fear, doubt, hate, bitterness, anger, or deceit into peoples’ hearts, he scores points and prevents us from experiencing one of God’s greatest blessings - Love.
As Presbyterian
minister Matthew Henry pointed out so well, “The professed love of Christians
to each other should be sincere, free from deceit, and unmeaning and deceitful
compliments. Depending on Divine grace, they must detest and dread all evil,
and love and delight in whatever is kind and useful. We must not only do that
which is good, but we must cleave to it. All our duty towards one another is
summed up in one word, love.”
God Bless!
Carol
