[Click here to listen to the sermon.]

This month we are exploring the nature of genuine love. False love abounds in the human experience. False love always results in harm. False love tears down. Genuine love builds up.

But this does not mean that genuine love is always easy. Nor does it mean that genuine love always feels good. Sometimes genuine love does not feel good. But genuine love always is good.

Genuine love stands on the structure provided by the fi ve Root Values of the covenant, first introduced in the Ten Commandments (better the Ten Words, the Decalogue). In a world awash in false love, the five Root Values help us live in the healing atmosphere of a faithful covenant community bound by genuine love.

Genuine love challenges habits, perspectives and behaviors that undermine life.

When a person is devalued by another, genuine love speaks up. It is not easy to come to someone’s defense, it hardly feels good. But it always is good.

Genuine love calls people to commitment. Sometimes the invitation to commitment can seem intrusive. But making and keeping commitments are the only way a covenant community can thrive. A call to commitment always includes an adjustment of one kind or another. It can feel unpleasant. It may not feel good. But it always is good.

The Root Value of Autonomy deeply respects personal freedom. It recognizes the incontrovertible boundary that defines an individual. Autonomy – otherness – is the most basic meaning of “holiness.” When one’s personal boundary is being violated by a pushy or manipulating person, the firm and uncompromising assertion of one’s autonomy may generate conflict. It will not feel good. But it always is good.

To speak the truth in love feels risky. Friendship rooted in sentimentality avoids confl ict. The fragile nature of such a sentimental bond endures only in falsehood. To tell the truth, to hazard substance over sentiment may not feel good. But if the friendship is to grow to maturity, it always is good.

Finally, genuine love honors the past. The Root Value of Legacy challenges us to survey the past for the hard lessons that may be learned there. Most people carry regrets about things they have done. Sometimes they carry remorse. It is only in confessing the shadow that we can recognize the light. Trusting God to redeem what is broken in us, restores us to great health and life. Naming the dark moments of one’s personal history may not feel good at first. It always is good.

Genuine love is not easy. It involves a challenge. False love may feel good for a moment, but Genuine love is good for eternity.