Is our love sincere?

How thrilling would it be if a mountain moved at your command – even only a fraction of an inch?
Would you feel powerful?
Would you love the attention you receive when every talk show host on TV booked you to discuss your amazing feat?
Yet if you neglected to show love to those around you, you could move every mountain on the planet and you wouldn’t impress God. Consider 1 Corinthians 13:2 (ESV): “And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”
Even if I, your beloved columnist, could explain the mysteries of the supernatural and answer your deepest life questions but didn’t have God’s love dwelling inside me, the Amplified Bible, Classic Edition would describe me as “a useless nobody.”
The next verse, 1 Corinthians 13:3, says we don’t profit if we don’t have God’s love in us. “If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
Every day, we busy ourselves with countless activities, many that we do for others. But how often are we doing these tasks for our own glory? We can fool ourselves into thinking we’re sincere, but if we could peer deep into our hearts, our true motives might tell another story.
Even if we give all we have – every bit of our energy and every hour of our lives – to serving others, if our main objective is to earn points with people (or with God), we gain nothing.
Don’t get me wrong. Many serve with genuine hearts. I know some of these extraordinary people. Their actions model a Christlikeness I envy. But I wonder what the rest of us might discover about ourselves if we asked God to examine our true motives regarding the “good” works we do at church, at work and in our community.
How differently might we serve others if we saw ourselves as we are – representatives of Christ? How would it change people’s perspective about God if they saw His goodness in us? Perhaps they’d see God differently if they experienced God’s love for them when they see us (those who claim to be Christ-followers) genuinely caring about their needs.
Let’s pray:
Father, help us love others with a sincere love. Give us the desire and grace to serve others in Your name so we can move mountains of distrust, annoyance and jealousy in our churches and in our communities – a fraction of an inch at a time. Amen.

Sheryl H. Boldt is a sales executive for Wave 94 and author of the blog, TodayCanBeDifferent.net. Connect with her at SherylHBoldt.Wave94@gmail.com.