Let love be genuine.
What a magnificent challenge! The challenge comes in two parts: love and genuinely.
The word genuine here in the Greek refers to being unhypocritical.* This word is a mouthful, but it simply means that there must be no pretense.* As you may know, the Greek word for hypocritical originates from stage plays where actors wore masks to hide their true identities and expressions while acting.* Paul commands us as believers (along with the church in Rome during his time) to love genuinely, with no pretend and no pretense.
The Christians in Rome during his time must have been guilty of pretending to hold virtues that they did not have.* It’s a good thing that this doesn’t happen today!
One of the most frequent criticisms that I heard while growing up of the body of Christ is that it is made up of hypocrites - ingenuine pretenders who are full of pretense. My observation is that the world is full of hypocrites, no matter if they have received Jesus as their savior and Lord or not. The thing that the world seems to observe that we as Christians would do well to observe is that within the body of Christ, this should not be the case.
When Paul calls the Church to love genuinely, what is he asking?
When he writes the word “love” in this verse, Paul uses the word agape (there are other Greek words with different meanings/emphases that he could have chosen).* This is an interesting choice for while we as Christians may be somewhat accustomed to the word from sermons or coffee cups imprinted with the word, the Greek literature of the time used it very little.* So rare a word in the Greek, it was only seen in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) nineteen times.* Paul uses it seventy-five times in his writings found in the New Testament!
Why does Paul tell believers to love this way? It’s because this word contains a distinctive nature that the early church came to use to describe the unique love that they experienced from God.* We are to love others as uniquely and powerfully as He loves us! Furthermore, we are to do this genuinely! It must be real, so it must come from a real place in our hearts.
The love that God gave us, we are to pass along to others. According to Osborne,
love is selfless giving, with selflessness being the attitude and total giving the resulting action.*
God displayed this to us in giving His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
How do we love like this? How do we love genuinely? How do we avoid play-acting love? First, we must receive God’s love. Second… we must continue with the words of Paul in the verses that follow…
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to allow Him to evaluate the love that you have been giving. Perhaps God wants you to ask Him if you have received His love in all areas. Maybe God wants you to lay aside a mask that you have been hiding behind. Perhaps there is some pain that God wants to heal.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.
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*Kruse, C. G. (2012). Paul’s Letter to the Romans (D. A. Carson, Ed.; p. 475). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.
Osborne, G. R. (2004). Romans (pp. 330). InterVarsity Press.
Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (pp. 443). W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.
Moo, D. J. (2000). Romans (p. 409). Zondervan Publishing House.