February 29, 2016

Seek Honest Relationships

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. -- Romans 12:9

Have you ever done something wrong and refused to admit it, even to yourself? Have you ever had someone else treat you wrong, and they refused to admit it?

We don’t like drama do we? So we want to shove it all aside and go on like nothing ever happened. It is the proverbial white elephant in the room. It can’t go away until it’s out in the open but we sure don’t want to deal with the dirtiness that comes by exposing it.

So we pretend it didn’t happen. We play nice. We attempt to rewrite the facts -- no matter the evidence -- and tell ourselves it will be okay. But it can never be okay because the sincerity, the honesty, isn’t there. That means the relationships will always be superficial. What is the purpose in that?

Life can be hard and messy. Broken relationships that are allowed to fester over time -- sometimes for decades -- don’t heal without a great deal of effort and honesty. And prayer, I might add. Without God in the center of it all, there really isn’t a point in trying.

Nobody likes a hypocrite. Have you ever had someone play nice to your face and then say ugly, hateful things behind your back? Most of us have experienced that heartache at some point. It hurts. It breaks trust. It makes us not want to be around that person anymore.

Love must be sincere. That’s what this verse says. It’s the sincerely that makes it love. Hate what is evil. Cling to the good. Speak kindly and mean it. Admit your mistakes and stop blaming others. Be honest. Reach out with compassion and do good where you can.

And have no patience for those who seek to hide their sins behind lies built on lies. We can love without allowing that kind of deceit. When we turn a blind eye to the white elephant, it appears that all that went before is okay when it really isn’t. Shallow relationships really are no relationships at all.