Our Real & Genuine Love To Others

“Our Real & Genuine Love To Others”

By Zach Wood

1 John 4:11-12

“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God: but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

Last week, I shared the couple verses prior about how the love of Jesus is real and genuine and not filled with “catches” or “gimmicks”.  As He showed us this love by dying on the Cross for us, we also need to imitate this love to others.  We need to strive to be the best representation of His love to others. 

His love is real and genuine, but is our love to others just as real and genuine?  Do we look at other people in our daily lives and desire to love them as Christ called us to love them?  Or, do we show resentment for things they do toward us instead?  We must learn to be very careful in how we respond and react to what others do to us.  No matter what they do, they still need to see the love of Jesus Christ shining through us whatever our response is toward them.  Yes, we can feel angry or frustrated at what they have done, but in our response and how we deal with what they have done, we still are called to love. 

When I think of how hard it is to love someone else who is treating me wrong, I need to remember Jesus going all the way to the Cross for me and the real and genuine love He showed for me.  He was treated far worse than I have ever been in my whole life.  His response to others was of love and compassion. 

So, as we go through our daily lives, we need to examine ourselves and ask if we are being real and genuine toward others.  Are we determined to show God’s love, no matter how hard that may be at times?  Loving one another is often hard to do because we are all so different from each other.  We get on each other’s nerves and we rub people the wrong way.  This is called life.  However, we are always called to show His real and genuine love in all we do. 

Whether we are trying to work out a conflict with someone or just doing our best to show God’s love to people around us, our love needs to always be real and genuine, just like Jesus.