No Cheap Love

     I saw it on the internet the other day. It was an ad for an engagement ring. The picture of the ring is pretty spectacular. The photograph did a great job highlighting the attractive setting of the ring. The large stone was surrounded by 18 smaller chips and five similar chips were set in the band itself. It looked amazing I could only guess the small fortune it would cost. $2500? $3000? $5000?
     The only problem-it was a fake. "Brigitte's Imitation Diamond Solitaire Ring, Price : $30.00"
     Imagine the disappointment, imagine the insult, and imagine the anger when a woman finds out that her engagement ring, the pledge of his love was a fake.
     We're called to love, especially as leaders who claim the name of the Forgiver. We are called to love.
     So imagine our people, our friends, our family discovering that our supposed love for them was nothing more than an act, a fake, an imitation.
     In one sentence in Romans Paul sets the standard for a leaders love. "Love must be sincere." Romans 12:9 NIV
     The Greek word for sincere could be translated. . .

Guileless - open and honest and not expecting others to behave differently
Pure - clean and free from impurities
True - not pretended or artificial
Genuine - having the qualities or value claimed
Without hypocrisy - without false claims or pretense
Without dissimulation - seeking to hide true feelings, thoughts or intentions

The Forgiver's leaders LOVE.