Daily Power #33

Love must be sincere. (Rom. 12:9)

The word love gets thrown around a lot. We love our families. And the taste of chocolate and crazy cat videos on YouTube. We love our best friends, the latest Star Wars movie, and the beach.

But then there’s the way God loves us and we love him. And one of the primary ways we show our love for him is by the way we love others—sincerely. We usually think of sincere as meaning genuine, earnest, unpretentious, and open about our feelings. But what does sincere really mean?

While we are uncertain about the root of the word sincere, some experts believe it comes from two Latin words, sine (meaning “without”) and cera (meaning “wax”). In ancient Rome, sometimes slaves and builders would take shortcuts and use wax to gloss over gaps and imperfections when constructing homes. Saying someone was “without wax” meant they could be trusted as the real deal, not a phony.

We want our attitudes and actions around other people to be just as strong. In order to love sincerely, we must remain committed to God with a rock-solid faith. When we focus on Jesus and love the way he loved, then others will know our love is sincere.

Power Lift

Lord, I want to be sincere and authentic in my faith and in the way I love others. I’m sorry for those times when I glossed over opportunities to serve others. Show me how to love like Jesus and give others my best today.