Love Without Hypocrisy

 

 “…Love one another,

even as I have loved you,

that you also love one another. 

By this all men will know

that you are My disciples,

if you have love for one another.” 

John 13:34b-35 (nasb)

Jesus commanded us to love one another (fellow Christians, brothers & sisters in the Faith). But, He also knew we were humans and would fall short of this many times over. So, praise God for His grace by which we are forgiven. 

This is a list of "love one another" attributes which we should strive to achieve.

Romans 12:9-21

 

 - Let love be without hypocrisy – Be real, sincere, genuine

 - Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good – Hate evil; hold tight to goodness & righteousness

 - Be devoted to one another in brotherly love – Love like blood brothers & sisters

 - Give preference to one another in honor – Give others more honor than you want for yourself

 - Not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit – Don’t be lazy; work hard in your love for one another

 - Serving the Lord – Serve the Lord with all your heart

 - Rejoicing in hope – Be joyful because your hope comes from the Lord

 - Persevering in tribulation – Be patient when trouble comes

 - Devoted to prayer – Pray at all times

 - Contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality – Share with God’s people; open your home and heart to others

 - Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse – Pray for those who wish you harm; wish them well and don’t mistreat them

 - Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep – Be happy with the happy, and sad with the sad

 - Be of the same mind toward one another – Live in harmony with one another

 - Do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly – Don’t be proud; make friends different from you

 - Do not be wise in your own estimation – Don’t think yourself smarter than others

 - Never pay back evil for evil to anyone – Two wrongs don’t make a right

 - Respect what is right in the sight of all men – Do the right thing

 - If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men – Not everyone will like you or be easy to get along with, but to the best of your ability, live at peace with everyone

 - Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God – don’t try to punish others when wronged, leave that to God  "…for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord. ' (Deuteronomy 32:35)

 - Instead, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”(Proverbs 25:21-22) – Kill ‘em with kindness!

 - Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good – Don’t let evil defeat you, but defeat evil by doing good

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“If I had the gift of being able to speak in other languages without learning them

and could speak in every language there is in all of heaven and earth,

but didn’t love others,

I would only be making noise like a clanging bell or a crashing cymbal

If I had the gift of prophecy and knew all about what is going to happen in the future,

knew everything about everything,

but didn’t love others,

what good would it do?

Even if I had the gift of faith

so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move,

without love 

I would still be worth nothing at all.

If I gave everything I have to poor people,

and if I were burned alive for preaching the Gospel

but didn’t love others,

it would be of no value whatever.”

Love is... 

1 Corinthians 13 (tlb emphasis added)