Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Did you ever buy anything that you thought was genuine and it turned out it wasn't? And you way overpaid for it because you thought it was the real deal? Could be leather, could be diamonds. It could be a variety of different things that you thought was genuine, but it turned out to be fake. Well, our Verse of the Day is so similar to that.
Bear with me as we look at it and dive into what's behind this as far as being genuine in our relationships to one another. It's found in Romans chapter 12 and verse 10, and it says, "Love each other with genuine affection and take delight in honoring each other."
The Challenge of Genuine Love
So love each other with genuine affection. Some of you may be thinking, "Okay, I know this person." Probably names are coming to your mind right now of this person. They are not nice and they are not someone I really want to hang out with. Okay, I get it, but let's just talk this through a little bit, okay?
What does it look like to have genuine affection and not fake it? Because we have those people where it's like, "Oh my goodness, I know I'm going to be spending time with that person. Okay, so in about 30 minutes, come up and get me because I don't really want to spend a lot of time with this person." We have those people. And you know what, different personalities and things like that. But it doesn't change the underlying call that Jesus calls us to in having genuine, authentic love for one another.
The Test of True Affection
Again, it gets back to, you can have different personalities. They're just very different than yours that you just don't necessarily get along well with. There's a big difference between that and actually having genuine affection and love for someone. A great illustration for this is the last part of this verse. Are you willing and okay for them to be honored? That's a great distinction because you have different personality types, but are you willing for them to be honored?
And a lot of times if you are, it's like, "Okay, you may not want to hang out with them 24/7, but you're okay with them being honored." That can be a genuine affection, genuine love, and a test for that. But it's those questions that we can genuinely and authentically and honestly ask ourselves. Do we really have genuine love and affection for one another?
Jesus's Perfect Example
Here's a great illustration of what Jesus, our perfect example, our perfect mentor, our perfect teacher, taught us by one significant act when He gathered the disciples around to break bread. This is just before He was going to be betrayed and led off to be crucified. And He gathered His disciples around. He took a bowl of water. He took a towel, and He walked around and washed His disciples' feet.
One of the most humble acts that anybody could do. And guess who was one of those people whose feet that He washed? Judas. The same one that He knew unequivocally knew was about to betray Him to His death, was about to betray Him, and yet He loved him enough, and was willing to show honor to him enough to wash his feet.
I can't even begin to imagine that. Can you? I mean, can you imagine somebody that's hurting you right now, that you know is against you, and you do something like that? Wash their feet or show them something that gives them honor? I can't even begin to imagine what Jesus was thinking or how that could be possible.
A Life-Changing Perspective
But as we follow Jesus, His expectation is for us to follow His lead in that regard. This is how God has used that to convict my heart and challenge me. Because as I started viewing people by how they were doing to me and how they were treating me, God challenged me with this simple question one day that completely changed my perspective.
He said, "What if you stopped looking at people through the lens of what they've done to you and start looking at them through a lens of what I have done for them?" Showing that value, because that's how much He values them. He was willing to sacrifice His Son for them. Are you willing to genuinely love them with true affection, to honor them in spite of the way they treat you today?
