Romans 12:9 Love must be 9 without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. 12:10 Be devoted to one another with mutual love, showing eagerness in honoring one another. 12:11 Do not lag in zeal, be enthusiastic in spirit, serve the Lord. 12:12 Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer. 12:13 Contribute to the needs of the saints, pursue hospitality. 12:14 Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 12:16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. 10 Do not be conceited. 11 12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people. 12 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people. 13 12:19 Do not avenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God’s wrath, 14 for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” 15 says the Lord. 12:20 Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heaping burning coals on his head. 16 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. NET http://bible.org
While this scripture gives us a guideline of how to treat others, it also teaches us how not to treat others. The very first words ... Love must be without hypocrisy is really what the rest of it is about. As fallen souls we have a propensity to use this word 'love' to suite our own desires. We want to 'love' with stipulation; we want to 'love' those who live up to our expectations. certainly we don't want to show 'love' to those who have done wrong things to us, and when we do treat them well, quite often we do it with the desire for God to heap burning coals on their heads (a twisting of the actual verse that says to leave it to God).
These verses call us to examine if we are loving with the love of Christ or with some man made perversion of the word 'love'. Do you love without hypocrisy?
