Coming Up: Sonday September 21, 2014
The Priority of Love - Romans 12:9-21
Read: Romans 12:9, 1 Peter 1:22-25
Our western world is obsessed with true love. Disney princesses dream about it. Chick Flicks romanticise it. Millions of single people chase after it. People look for it online, in newspapers and at their local bars. Everyone seems to be searching for true love. They are looking for that one person who can satisfy them, fulfil them and in some way complete them. They are looking for that one person who will truly love them.
As Christians we know that the only love that can truly satisfy, fulfil and complete us is the love of God for us shown through Christ Jesus. That is the true love that can change us completely from the inside out. But this is not the only ‘true’ love for the Christian. There should also be true, genuine and sincere love between believers.
That is Paul’s command here in Romans 12: “Love must be sincere”. Paul commands the believers to have real, genuine, sincere love for one another. He commands them to have ‘true’ love. Of course Paul is not talking about romantic love here but a genuine, self sacrificial love that serves others before self. A love that expresses to others the sincere and incredible love shown to us by Jesus Christ Himself. Paul is commanding believers to love one another with this kind of love.
But notice especially that this love should be ‘sincere’. This love is genuine, from the heart and without deception. We are not to put on our love masks before we gather with God’s people so that we can pretend to love them. We can’t just go through the motions, pretending we love other believers when we don’t. We can’t love some believers and not love others. This love must be sincere.
Peter makes a similar exhortation to Christians in 1 Peter 1. He commands them to love one another deeply, from the heart. They are to have sincere love for one another. Notice that Peter grounds this exhortation to love sincerely in the Word of God, the means by which they were born again. He grounds their love for one another in their conversion and belief in the gospel. Because of our faith in Jesus Christ we must love one another.
While there are times when it is hard to love other believers in Christ, we are commanded by God to love one another genuinely and sincerely. We are to care for one another and serve one another deeply. That is what it looks like to have sincere love.
As you meet with other believers this week at Bible Study, prayer meetings, youth and children’s groups, at church, or even as you go about your days seek to love and serve them sincerely as you pray that God would grow and strengthen that love in your heart.
Prayer:
Use the Bible passage from today and the reading notes to write down your prayer points before you pray.
Adoration:
Confession:
Thanks:
Supplication:
¥ Thank God for the blessing and gift of other believers who we can serve and encourage as they seek to serve and encourage us. Pray that God would grow a deep love in your heart for other believers and help you to serve them sacrificially.
We can’t go through the Christian life without investing in and loving other believers and allowing other believers to invest in and love us. Getting involved in the church and small groups is a great way to find this kind of community. Get involved today.
1. How would you describe the kind of sincere love that believers are to have for one another? What would it look like in real life?
2. Do a search for the phrase “one another” in the Epistles and see what they say about believers relating to one another. How would you sum up what you have found?
Intro: Sometimes it can be hard to have brothers or sisters can’t it. But the truth is they can be some of our closest friends.
Share: A time when you were able to show your brother or sister how much you loved them. What did you do? How did they respond?
Read: Romans 12:9. Paul tells the Christians that their love for each other must be sincere. What does sincere mean? One way you can love other believers is by loving your brother or sister sincerely. What could you do to show them that you love them?
Pray Together: Thank God that He has given us Brothers and Sisters and other believers to help us. Pray that He would help us love them more.
Intro: Sometimes it can be hard to have brothers or sisters can’t it. But the truth is they can be some of our closest friends.
Share: A time when you were able to show your brother or sister how much you loved them. What did you do? How did they respond?
Read: Romans 12:9. Paul tells the Christians that their love for each other must be sincere. What does sincere mean? One way you can love other believers is by loving your brother or sister sincerely. What could you do to show them that you love them?
Pray Together: Thank God that He has given us Brothers and Sisters and other believers to help us. Pray that He would help us love them more.
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