Skip to main content

Authentic Love



“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. 
In love of the brethren be tenderly affectioned one to another; in honor preferring one another;”
Romans 12:9-10 


        Love is commanded. Do you want real love?  Then it cannot be counterfeit. The world is full of pretend love. People who are infatuated with the idea of someone often mistake this for love. People who tolerate all kinds of evil claim they are loving an individual and thus become an accessory to that evil. The love God commands cannot be counterfeit; it must be authenticated by the only source of true love, Jehovah. 

“If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, cannot love God whom he hath not seen. And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also." 1 John 4:20-21

        Our love for one another must be absent of hate. We cannot fulfill the actions of hate and claim to love one another. Moreover, the Spirit clearly shows the impossibility of loving an unseen God when you fail to love your clearly visible brother. 

The sin of Cain still resonates as he failed to love his brother because his hate would not allow him to do so. Remember how Jehovah cautioned Cain as He counseled him. “If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door; and unto thee shall be its desire; but do thou rule over it. (Gen 4:7). Cain could have done right, he had the option to counter the anger in his heart by clinging to what was good. His brother had offered a good (approved) sacrifice, surely Abel wanted his brother to worship the God of heaven with his dear brother, Cain. Cain’s misplaced anger would not allow for this to happen, but allowed Satan’s influence to take precedence in his heart. 

How might this story have changed if Cain would have held his brother with the tender affection that God commands each of us to? Would he have continued in fellowship with his family? Yes. Would he have continued in right fellowship with Jehovah? Yes.  Would he have worshiped according to the correct pattern delivered by God (Rom 10:17)?  Yes! However, that was not the case, and sadly the sin of Cain spilled the blood of his brother.

        Abel has a counterpart in likeness when Christians fail to love one another. When love is hypocritical, we seek our agendas over the will of God. We second guess and criticize, we gossip and backbite. When this is done, it is no wonder that some brethren depart from the faith. Some of those have never loved the brethren authentically. Others of those may have felt (and it might be true) that they were not loved authentically by their brethren. Whatever the reason for their absence, let's not be content with them being absent. We have a unique opportunity to reach out to some who are missing from the pews but more importantly the work of the body. Send them a text, call them, and invite them to come to the Gospel Meeting. Sunday and each night will provide a great opportunity to show the brotherly love our Lord calls us. Christianity demands love. Let us love one another. 

Grace and Peace, 


R.D. Beavers 



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Don't Raise an Ahaz

           Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign; and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: and he did not that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah his God, like David his father. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations, whom Jehovah cast out from before the children of Israel.   And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree . 2 Kings 16:2-4                   When was the first time you drove a car? What about the first time you jumped off a diving board or gave a speech? After that first time, it certainly became easier. What about the first lie you told? Did it become easier? King Ahaz of Judah was evil and far from the example of David. Ahaz was the first to offer child sacrifices to t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Abijah and Totality

  Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam (also Abijah) over Judah.Three years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom. And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father. 1 Kings 15:1-3        Do you ever wonder how someone who gets things mostly right can still be so wrong? It is mind-boggling if we do not consider that God judges man in totality. From our text above, it is hard to see anything good that can be said about Abijam (Abijah) son of Rehoboam. After all, it is evident that he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father.      So where do we learn the details? 2 Chronicles 13:1-22 gives us further evidence of Abijah’s issues. We know he i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Can a Christian Celebrate a Secular Christmas?

         Can a Christian celebrate a secular Christmas? This is a good question and one that deserves an honest answer. This week I read the following, “If you don’t talk about Jesus at Christmas time, you miss Jesus. If you do not sing those scriptural songs focusing on Jesus, you miss Jesus. You might have grown up in a church where “Christmas” was a “Jesus-free” day.” These were some accusations leveled against some brethren by a well-known preacher in our brotherhood. In this article, I wish to set the record straight on how it is rather simple to celebrate a secular Christmas and it not be a “Jesus-free” day. I contend that no day is “Jesus free” for a New Testament Christian.            First, this brother accuses the church “of not knowing what to do with Christmas. They celebrate it in their homes, but avoid it at all costs in church.” I contend that the preachers who preach the whole counsel of God know what to do with...
Post a Comment
Read more