Do you Love?

Do you Love?
The apostle Paul writes,

"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.  

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. 

Honor one another above yourselves.  

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.  

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  

Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 

Bless those who persecute you; 

bless and do not curse.  

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.  

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud,

 but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, 

live at peace with everyone. 

Romans 12:9-18

Words for Christians to live by.
 So if you claim to be a Christian do you live by them. Is your love for all people sincere or dose it come with conditions? Do you cling to what is good?
Take a few minutes to meditate on each line of the above scripture. There are dozens of questions that come out of it.

Do you honour others above yourself? 

Are you zealous in serving God? 

Are you joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer? 

Do you help people in need? 

Practice hospitality? 

Bless those who persecute you? 

Rejoice with those who rejoice? 

Mourn with those who mourn?

Are you willing to associate with people from all positions in life 

even if that is a person living on the street,

 a drug addict,

 or simply a person of poor estate? 

Are you conceited thinking you know best in all situations? 

Do you repay evil for evil?

Do you do what is right in the eyes of everybody? 

Do you as far as depends on you live at peace with all people?

If you claim to be Christian you need to be asking yourself these questions. You need to be asking yourself do others see Christ’s love reflected in me?
Jesus made things very simple when He said,

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,

 for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” 

Matthew 7:12.

You should never be doing something to anyone that you would not want done to you. If you claim to be Christian you need to truly love. The apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians said,

“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 perseveres. 

Love never fails....

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. 

But the greatest of these is love.”  

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a,13.

This is I believe God’s ideal for love. I also believe although we may fall short of God’s ideal, it is possible to practice the kind of love the Apostle Paul is talking about here.
Showing such unconditional love to all people is I firmly believe, one step toward a holy life and as the writer of Hebrews states,

“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; 

without holiness no one will see the Lord.” 

Hebrews 12:14.

Please think about it.