Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.
Romans 12:9

This computer virus was disguised as a love letter of sorts. "I LOVE YOU," proclaimed the heading of these Love Bug messages. Yet when computer users clicked on this electronic "love letter," they discovered an attachment that wreaked havoc on e-mail files, stored images, and even sound files. The bug replicated itself by opening a user’s e-mail address book and automatically sending itself to every address in that book.

No doubt many people were excited to see a nice "love note" waiting in their e-mail folders when they logged on to their computers. Chances are the return address on the e-mail was from someone they knew, or at least were acquainted with. Perhaps the hearts of some even skipped a beat, as they prepared to read the confessions of some secret admirer.

Let’s face it: We all want to be loved. And people everywhere are looking for love (usually "in all the wrong places," as that old country song put it).

But instead of a love note, what we got with the Love Bug was yet another virtual virus.

We reached out for love, and again we were disillusioned.

How often has that happened in our high-tech, low-touch world? No wonder we’re so jaded.

But nearly 2,000 years ago, another "love bug" virus spread rapidly throughout the civilized world, turning entire cities upside down and bringing thousands to their knees. The message started out in the low-tech region of Judea, and spread like wildfire throughout the high-tech empire of Rome. Though it did not spread as quickly as the modern-day Love Bug, this virus is still with us today, in a somewhat mutated form. It continues to spread, most quickly through nations in Asia and the Middle East, where cultural antibodies such as sin and apathy have not built up enough resistance to halt its spread. In other parts of the world, however, where the virus has been more prevalent, the antibodies have become strong enough over time enough to resist this bug.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, the old "love bug" is Jesus, God’s gift of eternal life. But unlike the modern-day computer viruses, the Jesus virus offers love that never fails.

The Jesus love bug is a good love bug. But we live in a time in which the Body of Christ’s antibodies —our sin—have built up resistance to this virus. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold (Matthew 24:12).

Are we infected by the Jesus love bug? Or have the antibodies of this world, the sin of this world, made us resistant to this ancient virus? Here’s are a couple of ways to check:

Do we love God or the world? For many of us, the world has become our home. Rather than living our lives to "occupy" until Jesus returns (Luke 19:13), we have become friends with this sin-tainted world. For that reason, James calls us "Adulterers and adulteresses!" (James 4:4). The Amplified Bible puts it this way:

You [are like] unfaithful wives having illicit love affairs with the world and breaking your marriage vow to God! Do you not know that being the world’s friend is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world takes his stand as an enemy of God (James 4:4).

Certainly a husband or wife who commits adultery could hardly be called "faithful." And to claim to love one’s partner while being unfaithful is the height of hypocrisy!

Is our love sincere? Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good (Romans 12:9). The Contemporary English Version translation of that verse puts it plainly: Be sincere in your love for others. Hate everything that is evil and hold tight to everything that is good.

One characteristic of those infected with the Jesus love bug is their attitude toward evil. If we are sincere in our love for God, then we will hate the things He hates and love the things He loves.

The proof is in the pudding. Do we love the sinful garbage of the world—its music, its movies, its entertainment—more than the things of God? Would we rather gossip with our neighbors than share Christ with them? Would we rather watch a trashy talk show than read our Bibles? Would we rather surf the Internet for pornography than spend time in fellowship with other Christians? Would we rather read our horoscopes than engage our soul and spirit in Bible study?

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome (1 John 4:2-3).

Just how sincere is our love for others—or for God? Are we merely kidding ourselves by saying we love God? Do we have the "love bug"? Are we infected? Are we contagious? How many people have caught the love bug from you lately?

Catch the real Love Bug—and then don’t just keep it to yourself. Infect others!