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Across the Pastor’s Desk by George Marin

“Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.” — Romans 12:9-10 MSG

The writer of the book of Romans was addressing a very powerful topic with the multicultural church in Rome. They were wanting to impress upon these new believers the importance of loving according to a godly culture that was influenced by heaven, not earth. In doing so their stressing of loving from the “center of who you are’’ is so significant. The instruction is based on who you are now, not who you once were. The Roman believers were new creations in Christ. The old nature had passed away and the new nature had come. The Roman believers were now to love from who they had become because of their new birth experience!

The love that transformed their lives was real — not fake — because it was God’s pure love. It was the love of God shed abroad in their hearts through Christ Jesus. That is the most real and genuine love anyone could ever experience and that anyone could possibly share with others.

This love is also a deeply penetrating love. It’s a love that can change people’s lives altogether. It’s a love that can hold people’s lives together. Hence, these instructions are given, “run for dear life from evil, hold on for dear life to all that is good, be good friends who love deeply, and practice preferring others above yourselves.” These are instructions believers can build their lives upon for the glory of God.

This is the love that God calls upon us, as his children, to practice. This is the love expressed between members of God’s precious family. What a comfort to know that we are family in Jesus Christ — we are all in this together. None of us are alone, we have each other.

My prayer for you today is that you are immersed in the father’s life-changing love and that you are experiencing the benefits enjoyed in being a part of the family of God.

I love you — I’m in your corner!

George Marin is pastor at Grace Christian Church.