Thoughts From Romans 12 - Part 4

  Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Rom. 12:9,10

        When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He replied a two-part answer, to love God and love your neighbor, but if we want a "bullet point" it would be to love. Paul delves into this command briefly in verses 9 and 10. First of all Paul says, "love must be sincere." In other words, no hypocritical or faked love. This season, 49, of Survivor has a lot of that. Teammates will say how much they love the person, are on their side, want to make it to the end with them but as soon as they are away from them, they confess to the camera their disdain for the person and how they can't wait to vote them out. Drawing an inference, what would be the motivation for insincere love? We are insincere because the relationship is benefitting us, so we stoke it for our gain.

        Paul says true love isn't for our gain but the other person's benefit. Therefore, we are devoted to them which implies some sacrifice and commitment on our part. It also suggests that we don't give up on them when they disappoint us but rather are in it with them through thick and thin. It also honors them above ourselves so we are more concerned about their flourishing than our own. If you can find friends like that in life, you are blessed because most people's love is insincere.

       The first part of Jesus' great commandments, I am dealing with second. It is to Love God. Paul addresses this in verses 9 when he says, "Hate what is evil and cling to what is good." Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey my commandments." As Paul has said time and again in Romans, our love for God WILL manifest itself in our behavior. Jesus said, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." We must hate the mindset and system of this world, and cling tightly to the teachings of the Bible even if they go against every longing of our sinful self and every championing by those who don't know Christ. This is true love for Christ not insincere, fake love which so many so-called "Christians" have.

      How is your love life? Do you have real love for God demonstrated by your obedience? Do you have real love for others demonstrated by selflessness? These are marks of true believers.