Romans 12:9-13 “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.”
God is love. What a simple yet wonderful statement concerning the character of God. God is love and we love Him because He first loved us. Since our love comes from God, the love we have for one another should be sincere and honest.
We cannot truly claim to love God if we do not have a genuine love for our brothers. One indication of sincere love is that we are motivated to abhor (truly detest) evil. This is not just about detesting evil in others, but to also detest it in ourselves. We should be consistent in our stand against malice (evil) in all its many forms.
Abhorring evil is only half of the admonishment. We are also to cleave to the good. The word cleave is literally defined by Strong’s as “to glue.” Paul’s instruction tells us that we are to glue ourselves to that which is good. Again, this is not some half-hearted effort but a whole-hearted desire.
Sincere love detests evil and whole-heartedly supports good. We should cling to our brotherly affection for each other. It behooves us to value or esteem each other. This sincere love leads us to do something completely against our carnal nature; to show deference to our brethren.
We should never be lazy in business (whether in spiritual love for our brethren or in actual business dealings). Our attitude towards our dealings with our brethren should be one of eagerness. We should be earnest in our approach to each other. Paul points out that this is not just because we like each other. Our dealings are to be with the understanding that we perform this as servants of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
We should display a calm happiness (see Strong’s definition for rejoicing) concerning that which we confidently expect to receive from the Lord. We are to endure our trials within the context of the calm happiness of hope. As we hope, we are to be diligently and earnestly engaged in prayer. Our trust for sincerely loving one another should be in our Lord and not in ourselves.
Sincere love is concerned with sharing our blessings to meet the needs of those whom God has set apart as being sacred unto Him. We are to pursue with diligence the entertaining of strangers. Loving sincerely is not just a matter of how we think. Our sincerity in love is truly shown in what we do.
May our love for God be clearly seen in the sincerity of our love for each other!
