Trustworthy Love 可靠的爱
Dexu Xia
Love does no harm. Romans 13:10
Why can’t I stop thinking about it? My emotions were a tangled mess of sadness, guilt, anger, and confusion.
Years ago, I’d made the painful decision to cut ties with someone close to me, after attempts to address deeply hurtful behavior were merely met with dismissal and denial. Today, after hearing she was in town visiting, my thoughts had spiraled into hashing and rehashing the past.
As I struggled to calm my thoughts, I heard a song playing on the radio. The song expressed not just the anguish of betrayal, but also a profound longing for change and healing in the person who’d caused harm. Tears filled my eyes as I soaked in the haunting ballad giving voice to my own deepest longings.
“Love must be sincere,” the apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12:9, a reminder that not all that passes for love is genuine. Yet our heart’s deepest longing is to know real love—love that isn’t self-serving or manipulative, but compassionate and self-giving. Love that’s not a fear-driven need for control but a joyful commitment to each other’s well-being (vv. 10–13).
And that’s the good news, the gospel. Because of Jesus, we can finally know and share a love we can trust—a love that will never cause us harm (13:10). To live in His love is to be free.
How have you experienced or seen a difference between sincere and self-serving love? How can a community of faith help us learn to love others wholeheartedly?
Loving God, help me to learn the difference between real and counterfeit love and to share Christ’s love with those around me.
爱是不加害与人的。—罗马书13章10节
我伤心、自责、愤怒、困惑，百感交集地自问：为什么我老是想起这件事？
多年前，我做了一个痛苦的决定，与一个关系密切的人断绝来往。在此之前，我曾多次请对方停止那令我深受伤害的行为，但只换来对方的拒绝和否认。今天，听说她进城来探亲，我的思绪顿时陷入过去的种种情境，心情跌宕起伏。
正当我的思绪久久难以平复时，听到了收音机播放的一首歌曲，歌词不仅描述被人出卖的悲痛，也提到深切期盼那造成伤害的人能被改变并得医治。当我沉浸在这首萦绕心头的歌谣时，眼眶满是泪水，这首歌表达了我最深切的渴望。
在罗马书12章9节，保罗说：“爱人不可虚假。”这提醒我们，并非所有的爱都是真诚的。但我们的心仍深切渴望认识真实的爱，也就是不自私、不操纵别人的爱，是充满怜悯和无私的爱。这种爱不是因惧怕而去操纵别人，而是为彼此的幸福喜乐地付出（10-13节）。
这种爱就是福音的本质。我们藉着耶稣，终于能认识并分享这种值得我们信任的爱，这种爱绝不会使我们受到伤害（13章10节）。活在祂的爱中就得自由！
就你的经验而言，真诚与自私的爱
两者有何不同？与弟兄姐妹的相处，
如何让我们学习全心全意地爱人？
慈爱的上帝，求祢教我真诚爱人而不虚假。
求祢帮助我，能更深地体会基督牺牲的爱，
并让我知道如何与身边的人分享这份爱。