Stop Pretending & Start Loving

“Stop Pretending & Start Loving”

By Zach Wood

Romans 12:9-10 (NLT)

“Don’t just pretend to love others.  Really love them.  Hate what is wrong.  Hold tightly to what is good.  Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.”

One of the most favorite things kids love to do is pretend.  My girls are always bringing back memories when they play pretend with each other and with their friends.  It’s been so long ago, but I remember playing pretend and just having fun with our imaginations as we kept ourselves busy for hours.  It was so much fun to just pretend and imagine ourselves anywhere and role playing whatever character we wanted.

I smile when I see my kids playing pretend.  They have so much fun using their imaginations and being creative.  It’s often something to laugh at when they do this as well.  Kids really enjoy pretending to be someone they are not, just for the fun of it.  They get goofy and make us smile.

It is fun to play pretend, but too often, we continue to play pretend in the relationships we have throughout our life.  We play pretend in so many ways toward other people.  We stop being genuine and we pretend to love them.  We act like we do just so that we can get through our time with them.  Instead of being genuine toward people that we should be reaching with love, we pretend.  The sad thing is that people can see right through that.

Doesn’t it bother you when you can tell someone else isn’t really being genuine with you in how they treat you?  It just feels awkward.  It doesn’t feel natural.  Not all relationships we have with others are always going to feel natural.  That’s just not how reality of life is.  However, we can do our best to be genuine in love toward others, whether they are easy to get along with or not.  God sent Jesus to show us what true and genuine love is.  His love is no pretend love.

We truly need to hold tightly to what is good and genuine.  We need to love others, no matter whether they are easy or hard to love.  Others want to see us being genuine in our love, not pretending.  When they see us loving them in a genuine way, then the doors of opportunity to share with them open up.

It’s time we really stop pretending and start loving as Christ loves us.