Description
In Romans 12:9, we see love and morality juxtaposed. What’s the connection?
Romans 12:9
Let love be genuine. Abhor what… (visit YouTube for more)
Transcript
We have an interesting couple of thoughts tied together in today’s verse. It’s Romans chapter 12, verse 9. Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good.
And it’s interesting to see those two things held together. Now we know that the verse markings are slightly arbitrary. Nevertheless, I think these thoughts do go together.
So letting our love be genuine and true is an outworking of us abhorring, rejecting the evil and holding fast to the good. If we put aside evil, if we reach toward the good, then genuine love will be the result.
But how do we do this? How do we abhor what’s evil? Not just identify something as evil, but actually to say, "I’m staying away from that!"
Because we have so many opportunities presented to us every single day, and often many minutes of the day, to consume, to enjoy even, to feast on what is evil. In the films that we watch, in the music that we listen to, in some of the conversations we have with one another, we are invited, not necessarily to celebrate evil, but at least to tolerate it.
Should that be what we’re doing as Christians? Are we not called to a life of purity and holiness? And how do we achieve that then, the rejection of evil?
Well, it’s pretty simple. We just hold fast to what’s good. And if we’re holding fast to what’s good, then the evil stuff was never going to be close to us, is it? Hold fast to genuine love. Express that genuine love to one another and to the world.
God, we ask again for you to continue the work of your Holy Spirit in us because we know that he grows good fruit in us and that as we produce this good fruit, we will be more inclined towards your heart, which includes rejecting evil, accepting good, clinging to it and being genuine in our love to one another.
Thank you for your help with this. Amen.
