The Practice of Charity (Love)

Let love be without dissimulation.

Romans 12:9

After the apostle Paul’s discussion on spiritual gifts, he moves on to instructing the church on how they ought to live together and serve the Lord together, which was a needful thing for the Roman Christians. He expounds the very foundation of all interactions within the Christian church, the very key ingredient that glues the local church together in their lives together. The foundation is unconditional love (agape translated love). There are three Greek words for love; Eros – love between husband and wife, Philo – friendship love, and Agape – unconditional love.

Paul was not referring to the first two in this. He was referring to the love of GOD, the unconditional, agape love, that was shown by the Lord Jesus at the cross of Calvary where He died for sinful man, where He poured out His love for us, when He obeyed God to the point of death because His love for us is so great. Humanly speaking we are incapable of that kind of love, that kind of sacrificial love because we are by nature proud and selfish. However, when we have trusted the Lord Jesus as our Saviour, God comes and lives in our hearts by faith, and now we are capable, enabled by His Holy Spirit to have and to love the way He loves.

Paul teaches us that we are to have this love without dissimulation, without insincerity, without pretense, from the heart. The mention of God’s love is simple and many have taken great pains to describe in varying degrees of detail the marvelous love of GOD. However, the practise of love requires the Lord through the Holy Spirit to teach and guide us as to how to have this love without being pretentious. Notice some biblical injunctions:

Love is an action word:

1 John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. The bible never teaches that God’s love is ever a feeling, but a characteristic that results in action. When God loved, He gave (John 3:16). The early church was a church that loved each other and gave to each that had need (Acts 2:45). And many of the believers in the bible acted on the love that God has given to them – Aquila and Pricilla assisted Apollos to be a more powerful preacher, Lydia, a businesswoman took care of the apostles, Dorcas was a blessing to the people around, Epaphraditus ministered to Paul in prison. Love is an action: as Amy Carmichael, a lady to ministered to the children in Indian said “One can give without loving, but one cannot love without giving”.

Love does not bring up the past:

Proverbs 17:9 He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; … Oftentmes the pain and hurt in the heart of an individual, which is caused by someone else becomes the fodder and fuel for vengeance and defense. This is the human instinct: self-preservation and self- exaltation.

Yet, when an individual touched by the love of GOD, moves away from self and realsies that in order to be like the Lord Jesus, self and reputation, personal opinion and pride must be ignored and denied if the love of God is going to control our mind and heart and life. It requires a repentance of personal pride and ways and a submission to the word of the Father. As a result, when the heart is controlled by the Holy Sprit as the Holy speaks to the individual, to forgive, rather than bringing up the past, the Christian brings in love, manifested from a changed heart and a changed mind. It will no longer bring up the things that discourage but rather, those things that edify.

Love sacrifices for the other:

John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Giving of life is the ultimate example of personal sacrifice for someone else. But the love is even greater when a friend dies for an enemy, who did not deserve the love: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. What an awesome truth to keep in our hearts, that the Lord of the Universe died for sinful man.

Love loves without hypocrisy and insincerity:
Let love be without dissimulation. Dissimulation means pretence, insincere. Our love for GOD and men must be sincere, otherwise, it will not be bless by the GOD of Love, who sees all things.

How is your love for the brethren?