In 1873, famed evangelist Dwight L. Moody was scheduled to preach in Chicago on the very night the great fire broke out.
As chaos spread, people fled for their lives. Buildings burned. Families scattered. Panic ruled the streets.
Moody had every reason to leave. No one would have blamed him. But instead of escaping, he stayed.
He opened the doors of the church building and turned it into a refuge. He walked the streets helping the injured, comforting the frightened, and guiding the lost to safety. When the fire threatened his own home, he continued ministering to others.
Later, reflecting on that night, Moody didn’t talk about his sermon. He talked about people—about the opportunity to love them in their moment of greatest need.
He didn’t just preach love. He practiced it—when it was inconvenient, costly, and dangerous.
That is what Paul had in mind when he wrote in Romans 12:9, “Let love be genuine.”
Other Bible translations render the command this way:
“Love must be sincere.” (NIV)
“Let love be without hypocrisy.” (NKJV)
“Let love be without dissimulation.” (KJV)
The paraphrase The Message reads: “Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it.”
As Warren Wiersbe notes, our English word hypocrisy comes from a Greek term used of stage actors. It came to describe someone who plays a part—someone who projects an appearance that does not match reality.
In his commentary on Romans, C. D. Hamilton explains that in Greek drama, actors wore masks to portray characters they were not. Hypocrisy, then, is living behind a mask—pretending to be what one is not. Genuine love, by contrast, is sincere, unfeigned, and free from hidden motives.
William Barclay calls insincere love “cupboard love.” It is affection offered with an ulterior motive—given with one eye on what might be gained in return. As he observes, there is a kind of selfish love that seeks to get far more than it gives. Christian love, however, is cleansed of self. It is a pure outgoing of the heart toward others.
A biblical example of hypocritical love is Judas Iscariot. He spoke as though he cared for the poor, yet he was stealing from the treasury. His words sounded compassionate—but his heart was corrupt.
The love we are emphasizing in this year’s theme, “Love More, Give More,” must be unfeigned, undisguised, and unpretentious.
Interestingly, this command follows Paul’s teaching on spiritual gifts (Romans 12:4–8). It reminds us that it is possible to serve in the church—and still do so with the wrong motives.
- One may preach for applause rather than from a love for truth.
- One may give generously, yet crave recognition.
- A man may desire to shepherd God’s people out of an unholy thirst for power and position.
- One may even show mercy cheerfully, yet be driven more by self-satisfaction than by a humble desire to meet a real need.
The failure to obey this command shows itself in many subtle ways.
We may say, “I’ll pray for you,” or “Let me know if you need anything,” but never follow through. It sounds loving—but costs nothing and accomplishes little.
A husband or wife may be kind and attentive in public, yet cold and critical at home. Love becomes a performance instead of a reality.
We may find ourselves drawn to those who are likable, influential, or useful—while overlooking the difficult, the needy, or the forgotten. That is favoritism disguised as love.
Insincere love flatters to the face but speaks unkindly behind the back. It praises outwardly while ignoring the need for honest, loving correction.
As one writer observed: “Hypocritical love says the right things—but avoids the real cost of caring.”
All of this may be summed up in two words once used by Melvin Curry: “hypocritical theatrics.”
The true application of Paul’s command is found in the apostle John’s exhortation: “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”
That is how genuine love lives—not in words alone, but in truth, sacrifice, and action.
—Ken Weliever, The Preacherman
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