“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” – Romans 12:9
Have you ever met a person who just seemed really fake?
Love must be sincere.
It’s an interesting statement. Notice it doesn’t say, “You should try to be sincere in your love.” It says love must be sincere. That leads to the question,
Can love be insincere?
If you do something for someone, but don’t really mean it, is that truly love. When it comes down to it, God wants our hearts in the right place, not just for our outward actions to look good.
Jesus gets to the point a couple of times in the Sermon on the Mount.
“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.” – Matthew 5:21-22
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” – Matthew 5:27-28
We should all do loving acts as well as obey all of God’s commands, but not just for show. We should do it because it’s what we want to do, it’s who we are.
What if I don’t really feel it?
Join the club. We are all sinners with selfish, sinful natures. The truth is we rarely, if ever, love with complete sincerity. Therefore, we have no reason to boast except in Christ alone. Jesus loved and loves perfectly and sincerely. He is love. Any love that we show is from Him.
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” – 1 John 4:7-11
Pray.
If you don’t feel like you are being sincere, go to the source of all love and ask to have a loving heart.
What then? Here’s what I think, personally. After you pray, do the loving thing. You may still not “feel” like doing it, but we shouldn’t let our lack of feeling prevent us from doing the right thing. Also, you are sincere in wanting to the loving thing.
For example…
Let’s say Tony (whoever that is) has been gossiping and saying nasty things about me when I wasn’t around, but I find out. So, I go to Tony and confront him about what he did. Tony, realizes what he did was wrong and apologizes.
The loving thing to do would be to forgive Tony, however, I might feel hurt and not want to forgive. So, I pray and ask God to give me a loving heart and be able to forgive Tony. I may still feel hurt and struggle to forgive, but I sincerely want to do the loving thing and I know that means forgiving Tony. So, I forgive him. Then I continue to pray for God to work in my heart and I try to live out the forgiveness I have given.
So, let’s love sincerely. When we don’t feel like it, let’s pray. Then, let’s love sincerely.
Dear Jesus,
You love me sincerely as You demonstrated on the cross. Help me to love others sincerely as well. When I don’t feel like it, draw me to You in prayer and change my heart.
Amen.
In Christ’s Service,
Pastor Kurt
Copyright 2022, Faith Lutheran Church, Wesley Chapel. All Rights Reserved.