ROMANS 12:9

“Love must be free of hypocrisy. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.”

We make a lot of choices in our lives, don’t we? Some of those choices end up being very good and others not so good. We choose colleges, houses, spouses and careers. But God gives us some guidelines on how to make the right choices in His Word. In today’s verse, we will see the right choices to make time and time again.

Paul abruptly changes subjects from spiritual gifts to practical guidelines for Christian living. Wait a minute – isn’t that what exhortation is? Paul is actually exhibiting one of the gifts he just listed by giving us some great tips on how to live for Christ in the remainder of chapter 12. These are going to be fun to examine, so hang on over the next couple of weeks in this blog.

APPLICATION

MacLaren says this about Paul’s description of the kind of love we are to show to one another. “Love stands at the head and is the fontal source of all separate individualized duties. Here Paul is not so much prescribing love as describing the kind of love which he recognizes as genuine, and the main point on which he insists is sincerity.”  The Greek word for “free of hypocrisy” means to not act like a phony, no hidden agendas. That’s pure love. We see that same word used in 2 Corinthians 6:6 where it says, “in genuine love.”

Then Paul tells us to “detest what is evil.” Well, that’s pretty direct. What a great choice for us to make! The Greek word for “detest” is apostugeó which is only used here in the New Testament. It literally means to utterly hate or abhor. In this day we in which we are living, we are surrounded by evil. It seems the world is embracing evil as an actual choice today.

Paul goes on to say, “cling to what is good.” I love that, don’t you? My two youngest grandchildren cling to Papa and Nana whenever we hold them. They have a tight grip on us, so as not to fall. The Greek word for “cling” means “to glue.” It’s the same word used by Jesus when He says in Matthew 19:5 for a man to be “joined” to his wife. Glue yourself to good!

What great practical advice for us as followers of Christ! Love genuinely, hate evil and glue yourself to good. Do you think you can make those choices? God does!

I praise You, Lord, for giving us such wise counsel in Your Word.

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