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. Romans 12:9-10 (NLT)
Last night prior to small group, I was reading Romans 12. I was reading from the New Living Translation rather than my usual NIV. As such, it was difficult to skim over words because I “know” them. Each word stopped me in my tracks.
Sometimes, it’s just plain hard to love people. Most of the time, it is difficult to love with genuine affection. It’s easy to smile and say all the right things just like it’s easy to be friendly and more difficult to be a friend. Why is that? A note in my Bible puts it this way “God calls us to real and genuine love that goes far beyond being hypocritical and polite. Genuine love requires concentration and effort. It means helping others become better people. It demands our time, money & personally involvement.”
There lies the rub. Sometimes throwing money at something is easy, but certainly using our time and getting personally involved is more difficult. It’s easy to do so with people with whom we click. However, verse nine doesn’t make that distinction. It says not to pretend to love others. Take a look back at verses one and two and recall that we are to present ourselves as living sacrifices. Loving others is not easy, but maybe rather than mumbling under our breath “God, love them,” we should pray “God, help me to love them as you do.” He is able to help us do this.