“Love must be sincere…” Rom 12:8-10
Love must be sincere. Sincere is literally from a word that means “pure, unmixed, untainted.” In other words, in order for love to be love it must be unfeigned and pure in its motives. Love based on duty and obligation isnt love. It just isnt. And I dont just mean romantic love, I mean all love.
How do you know when love is sincere? When love is really love? I think the test of sincerity lies in looking at the small stuff. Love does not just love in big, spectacular ways. What if someone just loved you in big, spectacular ways - buying you extravagant gifts, taking you to exotic places, etc.? What if they didnt love you in small ways - asking you how you are doing, giving a hug when you need to be comforted, listening to you? Could you call that love?
Loving in the small ways proves its sincerity. Why? Because when you only love in spectacular ways who gets the glory? You do. You come out looking great. Im not saying you shouldnt love in spectacular ways or that its wrong when others praise you. It’s just that love of that kind is about being showy, it doesnt mean its sound. But when you love in ways that arent showy, when you dont necessarily get glory, isnt that when you know you are doing something truly selfless? When you dont get the glory, isnt that when you know that your love is real and sincere? When you do something that doesnt have to be seen by others, thats love. We dont have to receive recognition. Our actions can be unseen, showing that its sincere.
You dont have to love God in spectacular ways for your love to matter. You dont have to fly half way around the world on missions or preach to large crowds. Not that those things themselves dont matter or are bad. But we can love God in the small things - spending time with Him, serving others around us in little ways, and giving in secret. These things matter just as much, maybe even more, than the doing big things for God. It shows Him that our love is sincere. “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matt 7:22-23). You can do spectacular things for God and not be loving God. In this verse Christ’s response to these people is that they did big things for Him but overlooked loving Him by knowing Him - their love was not sincere.
“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” God wants us to love Him in ways that go unseen by others and unnoticed by the eyes of men - where we don’t necessarily get the praise and glory. Why does it matter to God if we do things in secret? I think it matters because it shows Him that our love is sincere. It shows that our love is pure in it’s motivation
