May 22, Love that’s not hypocritical
Let love be without hypocrisy.
Romans 12:9
This stands as an amazing contrast: love and hypocrisy. One might consider hate the opposite of love, but here hypocrisy represents the contrasting element to pure love. And, why?
If you are familiar with my approach to the Scriptures, you know that I move straight to the context. So, let’s go there. The context of Romans 12:9 represents something we find similar in I Corinthians 12. In both New Testament passages, a reference to the spiritual gifts become followed by a focus on the responsibility of love. The passage of Romans 12, verses 3-8, focuses on specific duties and callings which would not be expected in every believer, as the gifts and offices are unique to God’s calling on the individual. But verse 9 initiates a focus that no true believer dare neglect: love. And for every follower of Christ, the primacy of love must be unfeigned. So, pure love is the highest calling. Are you loving others well? Is your love toward others without hypocrisy?
Author and beloved pastor, Paul Tripp once gave his teenage son permission to spend the weekend at a friend's house. But during the weekend Paul received a call from the friend's mother, informing him that Paul's son was not at her home. (Her son had felt guilty about covering for Paul's son and confessed to his mom.) After Paul told his wife about their son's deception, Paul said, "Luella could feel my anger, and she said, 'I think you need to pray.' I said, 'I don't think I can pray for him right now.' She said, 'I didn't mean for you to pray for him; I think you need to pray for you.'"
Paul Tripp described his own response:
I went to my bedroom to pray for God's help, and it hit me that, because of God’s love, He had already begun a work of rescue in my son's life. God was the one who pressed in on the conscience of my son's friend, causing him to confess to his mom. God was the one who gave her the courage to make that difficult call to me. And God was the one giving me time to get a hold of myself before my son came home. Now, rather than wanting to rip into my son, I wanted to be part of what this God of grace was doing in this moment of rebellion, deception, hurt, and disappointment.
After giving his son a couple of hours to relax upon his return, Paul asked him if they could talk.
"Do you ever think about how much God loves you?" Paul asked his son. "Sometimes," he answered.
"Do you ever think about how much God's grace operates in your life every day?" His son looked up but didn't speak.
"Do you know how much God's grace was working in your life even this weekend?" "Who told you?" his son asked.
Paul said: "You have lived your life in the light. You've made good choices. You've been an easy son to parent, but this weekend you took a step toward the darkness. You can live in the darkness if you want. You can learn to lie and deceive. You can use your friends as your cover … You can step over God's boundaries. Or you can determine to live in God's light. I'm pleading with you: don't live in the darkness; live in the light."
"As I turned to walk away," Paul wrote, "I heard his voice from behind me saying, 'Dad, don't go.' As I turned around, with tears in his eyes, he said, 'Dad, I want to live in the light, but it's so hard. Will you help me?'"
I am grateful for this story, for the emphasis is clear: our love toward others must always mirror the grace and mercy of Christ, whether we are exacting justice, correcting a child, or entreating a stranger. If our love ever ceases to mirror the heart of Christ, then we have begun our way toward an expression of love that is hypocritical.
Today, love like Jesus. Love as Jesus. Let His grace and mercy flow through you to others. This is Christian love. This is our love. This is Jesus.
Blessings.
READ
Read Romans 12:9-21 to be reminded of a love without hypocrisy.