“Let love be genuine

Romans 12:9-13

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honour. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”

Could it be that many of us who go by the title Christian are shallow; now I’ve said it and the cat so to say is out of the bag, whatever that means?  Words do mean things, but not to many in our culture, it is a culture of not thinking or feeling deeply, it is surface understanding of many things.  At some point I began to grow weary of having a surface understanding of life, of my life in Christ.  I began to examine my use of words and found I was using the same word to express many of the same thoughts, and feelings; one such word was “love”.

Shall we examine the most over used word in our culture; Love; “I love that color, I love that car, I love that saying, I love you, I love my wife, I love God, I love football, baseball, and tennis and the list just keeps going and going.  Then we read this command, “Let love be genuine.”  How in Sam Hill, not sure why I used that but I do recall my dad saying that, to explain a point; “like how in the Sam Hill does anyone understand what love is?”  I looked it up, it is a euphemism; Sam Hill was a mercantile storeowner who offered a vast and diverse inventory of goods. People began using the term "what in the Sam Hill is that?" to describe something they found odd or unusual, just like the inventory found in Sam Hill's store.

The word “Love” is so over used and I bet you use it as I have many times each day, but do you have any understanding of what Love is?  Love is defined in       1 John 4:8, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”  Could it be we have our congregation full of people on Sundays with no understanding of how the Bible defines love?  Because God is love, does that word take on new meaning, maybe exploring more about love or God could be of help!  “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”  Many of us at a young age learned John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

 Love’s target is others, placing them before self, and many years ago I met a young girl at a Lay Renewal Weekend who had a great understanding of this truth, listen to the words of her “Talk with God”. 

 “Carol, how much do you love me, Lord?

God, I love you so much Carol that I did not let my emotions and feelings for my Son get in the way of everything that had to happen to Him for your sake.  I didn’t give in to the terrible hurt and anguish I felt as they rejected and beat my Son.  I never lost sight of what was best for you as I watched them mutilate and tear my Son’s body apart.   Your life is more important to me than preserving any dignity or thought for myself.”

I believe this young teenager was spot on, she grasp that she was the object of God’s love, and it has never been love based on “I will love you if” or “I will love you because.” The Father, the Creator, the I Am is love, and the only way to enter into Love is through the Father’s Son, Jesus Christ.

I have many things I like, but the word Love is very special to God, should it not also be special to you?  Quit being a bad witness of “Love,” share the true meaning of the word with your family, friends, and neighbors.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice