Love Without Hypocrisy

Love must be without hypocrisy. Detest evil, cling to what is good. Show family affection to one another with brotherly love. Outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lack diligence; be fervent in spirit; serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Be in agreement with one another. Do not be proud; instead associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Try to do what is honourable in everyone's eyes. If possible on your part, live at peace with everyone. Friends do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for His wrath. For it is written: ''Vengeange is mine, I will repay.'' Says the Lord.
But:
'If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head.'
Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good. Romans 12:9-21

This should be the Christians manual for relationships. I know the bible is our reference, but if I could take one part and say, "Here, live by these principles!" I would. We must love God and love our neighbour as we love ourselves. We must love ourselves and others as God does. His filter is best.

Offence is rife and comes in  many guises. If I am walking in the Spirit I will not be offended. When I am offended, it is my problem. Offence shows me I have flesh in the way. Christ was not offended, He was always in the Spirit. Even when he rebuked the Pharisees He did not leave the place with offence, He dealt with it, fronted it and let it go.

We assume we must avoid anger to not be offended. However, by avoiding anger we can stuff offense down into our hearts. Godly confrontation is good. Remember, keep it Godly. Jesus Himself told us how to deal with offence: 'If your brother sins against you, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if he won't listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established. If he pays no attention to them, tell the church, let him be like an unbeliever and a tax collector to you.'
Matthew 18:15-17

We tend to do the last first, all because we don't want to confront in a Godly way. We could save a lot of pain if we did things in the order given us by the Lord.

Remember: love, must be without hypocrisy! If there is hypocrisy there is sin and I need to repent. Amen!

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