Devoted to One Another

[Christsfreeservant]

“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.” (Romans 12:9-13 NASB1995)​

Do you ever get to the point in your life where you wonder if anyone tells the truth anymore? I mean, you know that there must certainly be people on this earth who tell the truth, especially those whose lives are surrendered to Jesus Christ, to doing his will, but then you keep hearing lie after lie after lie, and so it can get disheartening, at times. For so many people today practice telling lies. Lying has just become so common place, and so socially acceptable. And then there is so much fakery and play acting. It is sad!

But because of this, so many people claim “love” when it is not love at all. It may just be lust, and there may be some emotional feelings of some sort, but it is so self-centered, and often mostly about just getting what they want without any serious thought to meeting other people’s needs, and without thought for what they can do to show genuine love which is lacking in all self-interest. For love is not self-centered, but God-centered, with genuine concern for others and for their needs, and it must be morally pure, too.

So, if we are truly loving others with a sincere and unselfish love, which has no hypocrisy to it at all, we will have the interests of God in mind, first and foremost, and we will have the genuine needs of other humans at the forefront, as well. And needs are necessities, not just wants. And some people may not actually want what they need, for their wants are selfish in nature. So they may not consider our acts of love toward them as something they need, but that does not lesson the reality of the genuineness of love.

For if we love with this kind of love, we will want what is truly best for others. We will abhor what is evil, and we will cling to what is good. So we will not take part in what is evil, while thinking that we are showing others love and kindness. We will not take part in telling people lies just to make them feel good, but we will speak the truth, in love, to people for their good. And love does not involve sugar coating the truth people need to hear, thinking that we are being kind. Lies are never kind, no matter what.

And if truly, as the body of Christ, we are devoted to one another with a brotherly-sisterly kind of love for one another, we are going to consider what is best for one another, and we will encourage and exhort one another in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord so that none of us will be taken captive by people in their deceitful scheming, and so we won’t be led astray by false gospels, and so we will not be trapped by the deceitfulness of sin. And we will pray with and for one another for what is needed.

And we will be good listeners, especially to aged people who tend to repeat themselves and tell the same stories over again. It won’t hurt us to hear the same stories, as long as they are decent, in nature. For as we age we don’t remember things as well as we used to, and we don’t remember everything we have said to everyone we have talked with. And older people just need someone to talk with and to listen to them and just to spend time with them. There are plenty of acts of kindness that could be shown to the aged.

But it isn’t just to old people we are to show love and kindness, but to all people, and in any ways that we can express love and kindness to people, with pure hearts and minds, and with pure motives, and without compromise of faith and morals and obedience to our Lord. But please know that our acts of kindness will not always be received well, and not everyone will be kind, in return, for we may have people who will turn on us, who will persecute us. But we are always to be loving to them, in return, and always forgiving.

[Proverbs 24:17-20; Proverbs 25:21-22; Matthew 5:8-12,43-48; Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:27-36; Luke 10:27; John 13:33-35; John 15:12; Romans 12:9-11,14-21; 1 Corinthians 13:1-8; 1 Corinthians 16:14; 1 John 4:7]

Pray, Pray, Pray

Based off Various Scriptures
An Original Work / September 6, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Pray that eyes may enlightened be,
So they may know Christ.
Pray that they may Him better know,
Strengthened by His pow’r.
Pray that they may grasp
How wide and long
And high and deep
Is Christ’s love.
Pray that they may be filled
To the fullness of God’s love.
Pray with thanksgiving.

Pray for an open door for me,
So I may share Christ.
Pray when the gospel is proclaimed –
Shared with clarity.
Pray words are given me so
I declare the gospel fearlessly.
I pray for you to be active
Sharing your faith, too.
Pray continually.

We oft not know for what to pray,
So we ask for help.
The Spirit intercedes for us –
Words cannot express.
Just keep on praying for the saints
With all kinds of requests to God.
Pray they may have faith to
Please their God in ev’ry way.
Pray with joyfulness.

Devoted to One Another
An Original Work / July 1, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love