Romans 12:9 begins with this sentence: "Love must be sincere." (NIV) "Let love be without hyposcrisy." (NKJV and ASV)

In other words, don't pretend to love someone. Don't fake your love. Be real. So our "Make It Real" subject for this week is sincere love.

If you are a normal person (which I'm guessing you are), then you've probably had at least one person during your lifetime with whom you struggled to demonstrate sincere love. To you, they were difficult to get along with or to be around. Maybe your personalities clashed or you were embarrassed to be with them. Maybe they talked too much or wouldn't say anything at all. Maybe they were bossy, critical, arrogant, nosy, loud, quiet, emotional, perky, etc. Maybe they were - too perfect! Ooh! That's just more than we can handle somtimes! Whatever THEIR personality flaw, it was hard for you to love them with sincerity. (Come to think of it, maybe we were the ones being difficult. No! Couldn't be!)

So, why do you think God allows people to cross our paths who tend to get on our last nerve? Here's a thought. He wants us to grow spiritually. I mean, think about it. When we are sincerely trying to obey God and do things to show our love for Him, then we are going to grow spiritually by trying to love someone who gets on our nerves. It stretches us.

Does this mean we jump for joy when we see that person? No. Does it mean we spend as much time as possible with them? It's doubtful. So what does it mean?

I'm sure you've heard the word "agape" and you've probably even heard it referred to as "willpower love". It's more than loving someone who is easy to love or someone with whom you have things in common. It's loving your enemy. It's loving the "unlovable". It's using your will over your emotions. In some cases, it takes real "willpower" to love people like that.

But sometimes it takes more than our own willpower or determination to sincerely love someone. Many times it takes God's own love to fill our hearts before we can love someone else. (Romans 5:5 - "...God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit,..." - NIV) Of course, the only way for us to access God's love is by giving our lives completely to Him. We must sacrifice our selfish desires to do His will. We must love Him sincerely.

Haiti Earthquake Information:  The mission trip that Bryson took during the summer was conducted by Hope For Haiti's Children.  Here is an updated message from their website:

Your donation dollars are at work.  Today a medical team is on the ground equipped with medical supplies meeting whatever needs they can.  Please pray for them as they provide help and relief.  Your donations go directly towards helping us provide assistance and relief to the children and their families.  We have plans to take in additional medical teams and plan to deliver medical supplies, water, food.  We will eventually help to rebuild homes and schools.   If you wish to donate to this cause, you can go to http://hopeforhaitischildren.org/ or, if you have any questions, contact Bryson at cindy@sonnychilds.com.

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