i say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. [2 corinthians 2:8-8]
genuine love – what is exactly is genuine love?
let’s start with this, what is love that is not genuine?
- love that is impatient – is not genuine.
- love that is unkind – is not genuine.
- love that envious – is not genuine.
- love that is boastful – is not genuine.
- love that is arrogant – is not genuine.
- love that is rude – is not genuine.
- love that insists on its own way – is not genuine.
- love that is irritable – is not genuine.
- love that is resentful – is not genuine.
- love that is joyful at wrongdoings – is not genuine.
- love that is unwilling to bear things in Christ – is not genuine.
- love that is unwilling to believe in Christ – is not genuine.
- love that is unwilling to hope in Christ – is not genuine.
- love that is unwilling to endure in Christ – is not genuine.
- love that ends – is not genuine.
so, what is genuine love.
love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. it does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. love never ends. [2 cor 13:4-8]
this is love of God to us in Christ through his Holy Spirit. this is the love paul wanted the corinthians to know and have and pour out. this love is in us through Christ, but we must submit to the Spirit and his love for us – for this love to be poured out of us. otherwise, you and i will pour out our love, our human love. and our love, my love is not like the love of God.
God longs for you and i to know this love, to really live and taste this love of his. one of the ways we taste his love is when we have to desperately depend on him to give it away. whether through giving extravagantly, loving extravagantly, or serving extravagantly, when God calls you to love like he loves, this should make us desperate. and desperate people, pouring out the love of God by the power of the Spirit – taste the love of God in us as it is flowing through us.
today, where is God asking you to pour out his love? ask God to show you now. you are in his presence through the Spirit that lives in us! as he does, will you be desperate? will you desperately plead for the Spirit to work God’s love in you and through you? plead now! plead with God to know his love, to submit to his love, and pour out his love!
~ john ryan