The Weekly Word - A Devotion for the Week of January 27
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
-- Romans 12:9
Love must be sincere. It sounds like such a simple statement, doesn’t it? After all, insincere love isn’t love at all. And yet, we all know that loving others can be complicated and downright challenging at times.
As we consider what sincere love might look like in our own lives today, let us turn to Jesus, who offers us example after example throughout the Gospels.
As Jesus demonstrated in His interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well, a sincere love is non-judgmental – which means we are called to love without judgment those with whom we have conflict, those who might be different from us and those who make choices we don’t condone.
As Jesus modeled when He washed His disciples’ feet, a sincere love is humble – which means we should not use love to further our own selves.
And finally, as Jesus modeled in His death on the cross, a sincere love is selfless – which means we are called to sacrifice our own comfort, our time, our material resources and even ourselves in our love for others.
As flawed and fallible human beings, sincere love does not always come naturally to us. But God, through His Son Jesus, shows us the way.
Gracious God, I admit, sometimes I struggle to love with sincerity. My own desires, ambitions and hypocrisy often get in way. Please help me follow in Jesus’ footsteps to love others humbly, selflessly and without judgment. Amen.