“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Romans 12:9-21
I hope you read the verses above.
I would like you to read them again but this time I want to conduct a little exercise.
Here’s what you do – read the verses until you come to a part of the description that you are unable to achieve.
Ready?
Begin!
Well, if you are like me you may have trouble getting past line one.
“Love must be sincere.”
I spoke with a sibling on the phone a little while ago and as we ended our conversation we both said – “I love you” to each other as our habit is.
Did you catch that part at the end – “...as our habit is.”
Habits’ aren’t necessarily bad things but they can often get in the way of sincerity.
We say and do things out of habit and routine and stop thinking about how sincere our words and our love truly is.
Another portion of scripture cautions us that our yes’s should be yes and or no’s no!
In other words, mean what you say and say what you mean.
So we couldn’t even get past line one!
Here’s the truth – you never will – apart from what we have been speaking of these last couple of days.
We must remain in the love of Jesus.
He alone makes the impossible possible in my life and yours.
As we abide in Him, our love is sincere.
If we abide in our flesh our love is too often insincere.
Maybe tomorrow we can get past line one!
No comments:
Post a Comment