Love without hypocrisy

Melanie was questioned by her friend; are you depressed when your community suffers because of their faith in Christ Jesus? Melanie reflected and quoted Romans 12: 9-13, highlighting the true marks of a disciple of Jesus. And undoubtedly, it begins with Christ-like love. “Let love be without hypocrisy.” Indeed, hypocrisy isn’t real love, but much of what pretends to be “love” in the community is mixed with hypocrisy and must be spoken against. Melanie was clear that Jesus never tolerated the hypocrisy of religious or political rulers. Jesus demonstrated genuine love by washing His disciple’s feet; the display of His affection was real. And Jesus also sacrificed Himself for humanity and offered forgiveness. The Gospel of Jesus is called the good news of Salvation. On the cross, Jesus provided free forgiveness by His grace to all those who repent and turn to Jesus in faith. Now that is an ideal example of love without hypocrisy; Jesus’ love reaches out to others for the flourishing of their life., even to the enemies.

Melanie further pointed out that we are called to “rejoice in hope”. And we practice this by keeping our mind on the ultimate reward we will receive from Jesus. As the Bible teaches, we serve God rejoicing in hope, not rejoicing in results; this is how we fulfil the command for hope, patience and steadfast character.

Difficult times should not cause us to abandon hope or patience or continue steadfastly in prayer; for the disciples are called to positive action rather than laziness. We are called to “bless those who persecute us”. We cannot afford to have a hateful attitude towards anyone, not even towards those who persecute us. The disciples trust God and will never think it necessary to avenge themselves. They will leave the issue of vengeance to God, for God is the ultimate Judge. Love in action builds life and communities, while violence destroys communities and life, which is a precious gift of God. Let’s love without hypocrisy!