Loving Genuinly

 I cannot believe this is the last day of 2022...I don't know about you, but the year just disappeared in front of my eyes.  If it weren't for the photos in my phone, I would not be able to recall all the memories of this year's experiences.  Scary... 

But anyway, today, I do remember the word I chose a year ago to be my focus for 2022: Help.  This word came to me as a two-fold action: to help and to ask for help.  Looking back, I can see the few instances on which I might have succeeded, all by the grace of God...and the many times I failed, all by my own negligence and corrupted will.  

But enough of regrets.  God is Good and Faithful regardless of how unworthy we are.  Everything good in us is from Him, and for that I am genuinely grateful. (James 1: 17) It's time to close the 2022 chapter and see what 2023 brings.  As I think of the idea on which I would like to focus on this new year, the word "genuine" keeps ringing in my ears and mind.  

Genuine is an adjective that expresses how something is truly what is said to be. Some similar words are authentic, real, true...it's a pretty good word, isn't it? But, then...why do I find it so challenging?  Why is it so hard to be genuine?

I don't know.  Maybe it is because when we are genuine, we put ourselves out there, nakedly.  And when we do that, we become very vulnerable.  People can really hurt us.  It's best not to show our true selves.  It's best to keep people guessing.  There's so much evil running loose in our society, that we often prefer to keep ourselves inside our shells purely to survive.  There is one antidote to our fear of being "real."  The antidote is love.  

When we act empowered by Love, we can conquer all.  And Love is God, because God is the only true, real, "genuine" Love.  

I know I will most likely fail more than I succeed in 2023 while trying to be genuine in my actions of love towards others, but I'm encouraged by the Hope that abounds in me by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in me (Romans 15: 13)...the Emmanuel, God with us. So, I'm going with "genuine" as my concept to focus on 2023.  I want to "be" genuine in all I do.  Most of all, I want to be genuine in the way I love others.  I want to love genuinely as I'm perfectly and genuinely loved by My Lord.

May Our Almighty Lord, the God of All Love, and of all Hope strengthen us this new year and always, so we can walk by the hand of Jesus, in genuine communion with Him and His beloved.  In Christ's precious name.  Amen!

Happy New Years!