Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good

Romans 12 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

³ For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. ⁴ For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, ⁵ so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. ⁶ Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; ⁷ if ^[g]service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; ⁸ or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

⁹ Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; ¹¹ not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; ¹² rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, ¹³ contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. ¹⁷ Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. ¹⁸ If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. ¹⁹ Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰ “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Jesus Christ sacrificed His life for us. He died so that we could live. In today’s text Paul says:  Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  We could not and cannot purchase our own redemption, nor could we ever fully repay the sacrifice Christ made for us, but because He died so that we could live, we should live unto Him. The text continues saying:  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.  The psalmist understood what it meant to have a renewed mind. In Psalm 37:4 he says:  Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.  Our mind is renewed, it becomes aligned with God when we focus on and delight in and worship Him. The desires of our heart become aligned with the perfect will of God. In John 10:10 Jesus says:  “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”   The abundant life in Christ is not abundance as the world understands it. It is not that we have an excess of material things. We are not to be conformed to the way of the world. Our abundance is that in Christ we have everything that we need. We are content in the perfect will of God. Again, the psalmist understood the abundance of living with God. In Psalm 23:1;5-6 he says:  The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want… My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.   Our lives also overflow with the goodness and the lovingkindness of God as we dwell and abide with Him.

Because we are not conformed to the world, the world will not agree with the way our renewed minds think and believe. The world will often call us hypocrites because we do not love the way the world thinks that we should. The world says that love is demonstrated in tolerance and inclusion; in embracing the unrighteousness of the world.   Paul says:  Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.   If we love with a transformed mind, then we must abhor what is evil. It is hypocrisy if we love, tolerate or embrace the very things that Christ sacrificed His life to redeem us from.  Paul continues with what our love should look like saying:  Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.  “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  If we are conformed to Christ, then we will demonstrate love as He did. On the cross, He said:  “Father forgive them they do not know what they are doing.”  We cannot overcome the evil in the world by responding with vengeance, anger, hatred or a haughty mind of judgment. We need to, so far as it depends on us, be at peace with everyone, even as we abhor what is evil. In John 6:35 Jesus says:  "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”  He is the food and the drink we should give to those who oppose us.  In John 16:33 Jesus says:  “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”   It is only through the goodness of Christ and the love of God demonstrated in the cross that we can overcome the evil of the world.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit, that through the cross and the resurrection I am redeemed and renewed. I am reconciled to You and no longer conformed to the world. May my love truly be without hypocrisy. May I be at peace with all people even as I abhor the evil in the world and by Your goodness, may evil be overcome by good.  Amen.