Love can be fake. Not every good deed we receive from
others is based on love. Even we ourselves can do something nice and yet it
doesn’t come from our sincere hearts. The Lord Jesus, in teaching about prayer,
gave an example of a man who responds to his friend’s need of bread because he
doesn’t want this friend to bother him more. “I tell you, even though he will
not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your
shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need”
(Luke 11:8, NIV). Friendship is not a guarantee to expect a sincere
love.
Apostle Paul says that love must be free of hypocrisy (v.9).
That we need to examine ourselves. I like the NLT version of Today’s passage
(v.9-11): “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is
wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and
take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the
Lord enthusiastically.”
There is a relation between serving the Lord Jesus
enthusiastically with our genuine love towards others. Zeal for Jesus in our
hearts will enable us to love sincerely. Because even God the Father will come
and live in our hearts. Jesus said, "If anyone loves me, he will keep
my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home
with him” (John 14:23). With God making our hearts His home, we can be sure of
a genuine love far from hypocrisy.
But God cannot live in this following condition. Paul's advance instruction was, “When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them.”
(v.13, NLT). Sincerity loves people more than money. This is a very good test,
because often we are willing to help with our time and skill but not with our
financial assets. We should not underestimate this aspect. Money often comes
between us and others. Because love of money & possessions a lot of
relationships break up. Jesus said, “No
one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or
you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God
and money.” (Matt 6:24, NIV). The Bible gives us the story of Ananias & Sapphira to show hypocrisy covered by so-called generous heart.
Who occupies our hearts? Can God make your heart His home? Let’s examine ourselves more and more. Amen.
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