Romans 12:6-10 (The Message)

If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face. Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

This verse has posted on my wall for the past couple of weeks. I like it for several reasons.

The main reason I love this verse, “Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it.” I LOVE THIS. I think that there are times when we put on a front for others and give them the appearance that we care. But what if we truly loved people from the center of who we are. What does that even look like? Do we cross-reference that with 1 Corinthians 13:4-7?

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves.

When Paul wrote that, he was referencing spiritual gifts among the church in Corinth… but can’t we apply that in how we love today? I think it’s a great way to look at love. Love takes hard work: it can bring the highest highs, the lowest lows, it can get under your skin, it can make you angry. But when you truly love someone, whether in a friendship or a relationship, we must “be good friends who love deeply.”

And I struggle with that sometimes. Sometimes I put on a front for some people because it’s so hard for me to truly love everyone from the center of who I am. Am I meant to love everyone? Probably not… I don’t have the patience. But it’s my hope that when someone comes to me, that I can truly love them and have them feel like I genuinely care.

Well, there are so many things that I could write about this passage, but I will leave that for another day. What do you think of these passages? Do you truly love from the “center of who you are?” Or do you fake it alot?