Romans 12:9 “Love must be sincere. …”

A short text like this is dangerous.  Because it is short, I might be tempted to use it as a jumping off point to talk about love and sincerity.  I might say many good and truthful things, but if my thoughts and the message cannot be traced right back to the text how do you know it is God’s message?  Because it is so short, I could overlook it, or mix it in with the rest of the verses around it.  That would be acceptable, after all not every sentence in the Bible has a standalone message.  I did not do that because this sentence spoke to me.

If love must be sincere, then there is a possibility that love can be insincere.  We think of love as being a feeling.  I cannot think of any way for the feeling of love to be insincere.  It seems to me that we feel love, or we do not.  We could pretend to feel love, but that would not be love.

Paul is writing to a church where the Jewish Christians and the gentile Christians are struggling with animosity.  Their cultures have taught each of them as a group to distrust and hate the other.  Now together as Christians they are seeking to know and express brotherly love.  I believe Paul is writing about love as an action verb.  He recognizes that it is possible to do or say something with the intention that it appear to be an act of Christian love without your heart being in it.  You can tell someone to “Have a good day” while at the same time you are really hoping they have a miserable day.  Pretense and insincerity by Christians in a relationship with others is unrighteous and sinful.  It is not easy to control our feelings, but with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, we can be sincere in our actions.  Only when we sincerely desire the best for another, will our actions be Christian love.