Christian Love in Action

The Color of Love

The Apostle Paul paints a magnificent portrait of Christian love in Romans 12. He crafts his masterpiece using 12 verses which demonstrates that love is not emotion; love is action.

In our everyday lives we probably talk about love more than anything else. Most parents don't let a day go by without telling their children how much they are loved. Most spouses don't leave one another for the day or go to sleep at night without a kiss and a profession of love. Jesus commanded that we love one another as ourselves, and so we say to our brothers and sisters "I love you" in obedience to the Lord.

But here in Romans verses 9–21, Paul details that Christian love is not about how you talk; love is strictly about how you walk. Using a series of actions, Paul summarizes how we should love one another in the way that Christ loves us. Although Christians should routinely perform these actions every day, their importance has renewed value when done for the glory of God. Daily focus on these "love actions" will not only make a lifetime of difference for others, but also, we create an eternal heavenly portrait for ourselves: only what we do for Christ will last.

Paul's picture of Christian love in action looks like this:

• Be Sincere: help others become better people. This requires our time, money, and personal involvement.
• Honor each other: we have all been created in God's image. Put others first.
• Bless those who persecute you: if your enemy is hungry or thirsty, give him or her what they need.
• Live in peace: forgive those who trespass against you; hurt you; and perpetrate evil, whether or not they ever repent.

Sometimes Paul's picture of Christian love is difficult to look at because it shows us where we may need to change our behavior. This is something that we don't always want to see. To be pleasing to God however, we must be living portraits of Christian love.

Take a spiritual selfie from time to time. It will give you a view of what others see when they look at your walk. And if what you see doesn't look like Christian love in action, change the picture until it does.

Read Romans 12: 9–21