⁹ Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another

Romans 12:9-10 NKJV

Let me be clear about this, love never fails, just as scripture shows us.  However, you better believe that we can and do fail love quite often.   How is it that we fail love?  As Paul said, we should be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love.  We should honor and give preference to each other – this is the key.  Love puts one before themselves— it does not parade itself nor does it seek its own.

Where we go wrong and fail love is in our nature being selfish.  Don’t get me wrong, we must certainly tend to ourselves and to our needs.  However, there is a point where we should look to our left and right, see that our neighbor needs a hand and we offer our hand to them.  There should be a point in time where we see our neighbor needs a boost and we give them that boost.  We fail love when we do nothing but put ourselves before and above the needs and the plight of others.  

Self-seeking is not the fruit of love.  Greed is not the fruit of love.  Covetousness is not the fruit of love.  These are the fruits of evil – the world.  Love must be without hypocrisy – selfish actions – or else love will fail.  Let’s be clear about this:  when love fails, everybody fails whether we realize it or not.  

If we desire to get up and succeed as a community, we must let go of the “me’s” and “I’s” and start looking out for “we”.  When we work together, you can flourish and I can flourish – we can all prosper together.