1 Peter 1:22 says,
"Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the
Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently, with a pure
heart."
I can't love someone
sincerely on my own. Not with true agape love. If I try to love on my own, I
will always be looking for what I can get out it. I will be counting the cost
of the love. That’s not sincere. That’s not agape. That’s not the love that my
Savior has for me and it's not the love that I'm supposed to have for others.
Fake love is not sincere love. Sometimes I find myself falling in the trap of
judging people without even thinking about it but to someone's face I pretend
to love. That's not sincere. That's not even love.
When I obey the
truth(the Bible) that God has given me through the Holy Spirit, my heart and
soul are purified and I have the ability to love others with a sincere and
passionate love that I can only have through Christ. I can't attain this type
of love through my own actions and strength. This is a love only God can give.
Sincere agape love
is hard because it can hurt. When you pour into others and don't count the cost
of the love, you are going to get hurt eventually because we are humans and we
hurt each other. Sometimes the people that we love so dearly make decisions that
eventually end up hurting them and seeing them hurts you just like with Paul
and the Corinthians(2 Corinthians 2:4). I made this point earlier in the week
but God wouldn't ask me to do something that He hasn't first done. Christ knows
the pain of love firsthand better than we ever could. Loving us caused him
physical pain and torture and death. Loving us actually caused Him to have to
be separated from His Father for a time in death.
I want to sincerely
love out of a pure heart. I want to love without counting the cost. I want to
fervently love like my Heavenly Father loves.
Application:
I want to make sure
that I am sincerely loving and not just pretending. I will tape James 4:12 to
my bed post so that I will remember to sincerely love my brothers and sisters
and not judge.
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