Is Your Love Legit? Marks of Sincere Love

Christian Characteristics of Sincere Love. Concerning…

Evil: abhor it
Good: bond to it
Honor: esteem one another
Diligence: not lazy or hesitant
Motivation: boiling over
The Lord: bond-service
Hope: with rejoicing
Tribulation: with patience
Prayer: constant
Christian needs: sharing in them
Love of strangers: aggressively pursue

Bless persecutors. Rejoice with rejoicing ones, weep with weeping ones.
Live in harmony – not proud, but with the lowly.

Behavior Anchored in Theology (12:1-2)

Characteristics of Our Passage (12:9-16)
Practical
High expectations
Bullets for love
Apostolic Application

Sincere Love & Brotherly Affection (12:9-10, 12-14, 16)
Called to be tenderly loving, kindly affectionate to – real feeling
ALL believers - our corporate witness. Practical Steps
Start small
Pray for the Spirit’s power
Be humble
Prefer one another
Remember they are family
Participate in their needs
Pursue hospitality – know them

The Indispensability of Diligence & Fervency (12:11)
There is urgency in doing God’s work – get psyched
It is freeing to be the Lord’s bondservant
Diligence is not optional, but varies with life’s stages/seasons
At you at your bandwidth?
Fervency enables diligence. What are you enthusiastic about?

A Test of True Love – Rejoice & Weep (12:15)
An extension of loving others as yourself
The greater difficulty of rejoicing
Combating your selfish
Amidst your morning
It’s about family favor, not fairness
Be honest, be sensitive, be sincere

Our Strength? The Hope of the Gospel