Paul, the apostle, wrote, “Let love be genuine.” The Greek word translated here as “genuine” can be read literally as “un-hypocritical.” Let love be un-hypocritical.
The popular translation of the Bible known as The Message translates this first verse to say: “Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it.” Love from the center. Listen to the heartbeat of your soul. Have you had a tough time lately? Have you found yourself not behaving very kindly or lovingly toward your spouse, your partner, your family, your neighbor? Well, a good time to begin loving from the center is today. Let that love be real, let it be un-hypocritical.
Have you seen the movie “Cowboys and Aliens”? It is the perfect summer time popcorn movie. It’s like the westerns from my childhood except in this one the cowboys and Native Americans are fighting against aliens from space. The main character in the movie, played by Daniel Craig, is basically James Bond in chaps. However, he has forgotten his past. He has amnesia. He doesn’t know who he is. When the aliens attack he helps to lead the townspeople in battle. In one scene, when the town’s preacher is dying after heroically saving a young boy from an alien (I like it when the preacher is a hero!), he tells Daniel Craig to lead the way against the bad guys from space. Craig says, “But I don’t know who I am.” The preacher says, “It doesn’t matter who you were. It only matters who you are!”
Have you had a difficult time letting love be genuine? Have you failed at authentic, real, from the center love? It matters more who you are, not who you were. You may say, “Oh, my family will never believe it. They will think it’s short term or that I’ve gone cuckoo or something.” Fine. Let ‘em think that. If your love is genuine, un-hypocritical it will make its way to reality. It matters more who you are than who you were.
This is an open-ended invitation to let God’s love become the new force in your life. It is a way of saying who you were does not control who you are.
Grace and peace to you,
-Glen
