When Love is Genuine

You want to be loved? You want to love someone? These desires lay within the core of every human being. An issue, however, is that we often hear about others' desires to love or be loved and they seek it in the wrong way or find it in the wrong places: the young man who thinks he can win a woman's heart by buying her nice things; the woman who quickly gives herself physically to a man who then leaves her shortly thereafter; the person who thinks becoming physically attractive is the key to attracting others into a loving relationship; the list goes on.

This desire to love and be loved, however, also extends beyond the intimate relationship between a man and a woman. It also pertains to extended family members, friends, and even in the work place. People naturally try to determine in their own mind what love is and what it looks like. Unfortunately, our ideas are influenced by social media, movies, and what we see others doing. Much like all facets of life, the Bible provides a plethora of advice and wisdom when it comes to love. After all, God is love (1 John 4:8).

"Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good" - Romans 12:9

The New Testament notes love as being the supreme virtue (1 Cor. 13:13), which expresses itself as centering around the needs and welfare of the one loved and does whatever is necessary to meet those needs. It can be assumed that since the apostle Paul is telling us to "Let love be genuine," we can know that there is a false type of love, which shows its ugly face when we follow after our flesh rather then being led by the Spirit (Rom. 8:5). Spouse, are you more focused on being "right" in conversations rather than being patient and kind? Child, are you disobeying your parent(s) because you feel "no one can tell me what to do"? Parent, are you not disciplining your child because you want them to "like" you or are you trying to control them to the point that they don't have any room for making their own mistakes? In all these examples, the Spirit of God endows the Christian to be able to love with pure and sincere motives, without self-centered attitude or guile. Of course, no Christian does this perfectly all the time, which is why we follow Jesus Christ, who did all things perfectly during His time on earth. When love is genuine, it "covers a multitude of sins" (1 Pet. 4:8) and "rejoices with the truth" (1 Cor. 13:6).

As God loves by graciously dealing with us individually, we too need to learn to love by making space for grace with others.