Is My Love for the Lord Real?

Truth 4 Teens

 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil.

Cling to what is good (Romans 12:9).
The Apostle John said, He that loves not, knows not
God. We can say that we love God and others, but
talk is cheap. How can we know for certain whether
our love is real?
How do you KNOW whether your love for others (or
even your love for God) is real or not? It is actually not
difficult to pretend to love someone outwardly while
inwardly not caring for them at all. I guess thats why
true love is what many teens are looking for.
Paul says we can recognize true love by the way we
hate evil and cling to good.
Love requires a deep passion for the truthknowing it,
embracing it, obeying it, and promoting it. Just as God
hates evil and loves good, so those who know Him will
love (and hate) the same things He does.

 When Paul urged the young Roman Christians to love without

hypocrisy, what was he saying? Let your love be genuine.
Sincere. From your heart. No pretendingreally lovedont
fake it.
Originally the Greek word translated without hypocrisy
(anupkritos) meant inexperienced in the art of acting. It came
to mean someone who, in contrast to an actor, is without
hypocrisy or pretense, genuine, and sincere.
God does not want to populate heaven with a bunch of emptyheaded puppets or well-programmed robots. Both can act as
they are programmed or controlled by others, but neither can
truly love. God desires to be surrounded by people who love
what He lovesfrom their hearts.
So how do we know if we truly love others and God as we
should? True believers find themselves loving whatever the
Scripture says is true and good, while hating everything that is
false and evil (Philippians 4:8)

 Even the Old Testament reminds us of real love by stating that

those who love the Lord, hate evil! (Psalm 97:10). Jesus
reiterated this Old Testament truth in a New Testament way
when He inspired Mark to write, Love the Lord your God with
all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all
your strength (Mark 12:3031).Jesus showed us what this kind
of love looks like with His own life.
Do I sincerely love God with all my heart? Like Jesus, we
should hate any other loversany false beliefs or desires that
compete for first place in our hearts, Luke 14:26. We should
willfully determine to love the Father and obey His Word above
all else (Hebrews 10:7).
Do I sincerely love God with all my soul? This includes the
emotional side of our love. Christ displayed this intense love at
the Garden of Gethsemane, when He experienced deep grief at
the prospect of taking the worlds sins upon Himself (Luke
22:4244)
Do I sincerely love God with all my mind? What we allow to
consume and control our thoughts shows what we truly care
about. Jesus was consumed with following Gods will, as
revealed in John 15:10. What do you think about the most?

Do I sincerely love God with all my strength?

Are my youthful energies being drained to
satisfy my own comforts and desires rather than
Gods cause? Jesus went to His death pursuing
one primary goalto bear witness to the truth
(John 18:37)
God tells us how to love Him with all of our
heart, soul, mind, and strength. Hate what God
hates and love what God loves. Is your love for
God real?