Title: Let love be without dissimulation

Text: Romans 12:9 KJV
Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

In today’s age, many encourage us to love one another, and I agree with that. Since the Lord Jesus Christ commanded us to love even our enemies, it follows that we should love the brethren and everything God loves. However, we should also remember that true love must be grounded in truth. A love in the absence of truth is a great deception.

The world wants “love without truth.” God commands “love without dissimulation.”

I. THE DEFINITION: WHAT DISSIMULATION REALLY IS

“Let love be without dissimulation.” Dissimulation means “to disguise or conceal under a false appearance.” It is essentially “putting on an act.”

Award-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss once noted that acting is based entirely on pretense: “The clothes you’re wearing are not yours, the words you’re saying are not yours, you pretend that you don’t see the stagehand and you pretend you don’t see the audience—and the audience pretends you’re not actors, that you’re real life.”

It’s all fake! Nothing is real. Another word for “dissimulation” is hypocrisy—pretending to be what you are not.

Church is not a stage. The pew is not a spotlight. And your Christian life is not a performance. God never called us to act—He called us to abide.

II. THE DANGER: WHEN WE PERFORM FOR GOD

A sober biblical example of this is Ananias and Sapphira, who gave money to the church under the pretense that it was the full amount from their property sale when it was actually only a portion (Acts 5:1–11). They were desperate to project an impression of deep spirituality that they did not truly possess.

They did not fool God. God ripped off their mask of pretense to reveal their true dishonesty. We can easily fall into the exact same trap today:

• Praising with our lips while harboring bitterness in our heart (Matthew 15:8).
• Serving to gain human recognition rather than to serve Jesus (Matthew 6:1).
• Posting spiritual quotes publicly while living in private, unconfessed sin.
• Saying “I’m fine” or “I’m blessed” when our soul is dry and dying inside.

God isn’t asking for a perfect performance; He is asking for a pure heart. As Scripture reminds us:

1 Samuel 16:7 KJV “…for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”

III. THE DEMAND: LOVE THAT IS REAL

Paul doesn’t just say “stop pretending.” He commands, “Let love be WITHOUT dissimulation.” Authentic love cannot be faked. True, biblical love possesses three unmistakable marks:

• Loves when no one is watching: It prays, gives, and serves in secret without needing an audience (Matthew 6:4).
• Loves the unlovely: It extends grace and kindness to those who cannot or will not love you back (Luke 6:32).
• Loves with truth: It is grounded in integrity—“speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). Real love will not cover up sin; it will confront in order to restore.

Warning to Believers: You may put on a convincing act and keep many people fooled, but God sees our true motives. The Holy Spirit lives inside every believer—He knows when your worship is merely a routine, when your “I’m blessed” is a facade, and when your service is driven by applause.

IV. THE DELIVERANCE: HOW TO GET REAL

How do we take off the mask and walk in genuine love?

• Be Honest With God — “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts” (Psalm 139:23). Stop hiding. Confess the coldness. God already knows, and honesty is always the first step to spiritual healing.
• Be Broken Before God — “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Psalm 51:17). God isn’t impressed with your religious mask; He is moved by your heart’s brokenness.
• Be Filled With God — You cannot manufacture real love in your own willpower. “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5). When you are yielded to and filled with Him, you won’t have to fake it—the fruit will be real.

CONCLUSION: 

GET REAL! Be yourself! Stop pretending and copying others! Let our love be based on Truth, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the author and the finisher of our faith.

Therefore, don’t be a phony—get real! The world is tired of fake Christians. The lost are looking for something real. Your family is looking for something real. And God is looking for genuine believers.

You don’t have to pretend with Jesus. You can come to Him dirty, broken, weak, and tired—and He will still love you. But He loves you too much to leave you that way.

3 Questions to Ask Yourself Today:

a. Where am I acting in my Christian life instead of abiding?

b. What mask am I wearing that only God and I know about?

c. Will I take it off today and let God make me real?

“But let us, who are of the day, be sober…” — 1 Thessalonians 5:8 KJV. To be sober means no acting. No pretending. Just real.

May God find us to be believers whose love is truly without dissimulation.