Genuine Love

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.” Love must be sincere without hypocrisy in order to be genuine. Love does not harp on the faults of others or on any scores that might boast our egos. True genuine love was when God gave his only begotten son to save us. As stated in John 3:16 (ESV), “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ died on the cross for all of our sins. There is no greater example or model of genuine love.

God Bless!

Carol