Don't Be Slothful in Zeal

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.” (Romans 12:9-13 ESV)

From what I understand, most every time we see this word “love” in the New Testament Scriptures, it is agape love, which comes from God, and which centers in moral preference, and which prefers what God prefers. This is not human love which is based largely in our emotions and in the one we are loving. And it is not sensual love nor sexual attraction to someone. But when we love with this love, we are preferring to live through Christ and to obey his choices for our lives, in the power of God, and by his grace.

And if this love is genuine, it will be without hypocrisy, and it will be sincere. It won’t be faked or put on to give off an image that is not the truth just so other people will like us or so that they will include and not exclude us. Nor will it be faked in order to cover up hate and sinning against others, acting like we really care about them when, in fact, we are doing the exact opposite of that in our actions toward them. And this applies to our relationships with God, too. For if we say that we love God, but then we deliberately and habitually sin against him, that is a lie. It is not genuine love.

For agape love prefers all that is holy, righteous, godly, upright, morally pure, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord and to his commands. And so when we love with this kind of love we are also going to hate all that is evil, so we are not going to be deliberately and habitually sinning against our Lord and against other humans. But we will put evil far from us, and we will resist the devil, and flee temptation to sin, and we will draw near to God in full assurance of faith, and we will do what God says we must do.

And then we are also to love our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ with a family type love, which cares about them as though they are our flesh and blood brothers and sisters. But this also reflects agape love which prefers what is holy, honest, morally pure, faithful and obedient to our Lord, and so we are not going to willfully sin against the Lord and against our fellow Christians nor against any other human. And we should show the same concern for our Christian family as we do for our blood family members.

Now, as we have read in other passages of Scripture, there are those who profess faith in Jesus Christ whose zeal is misdirected, for it is not based on God’s design and purpose for our lives, but what the flesh wants to do. Or it is founded in religious rituals and practices that really have nothing to do with our intimate relationships with Jesus Christ and the surrender of our lives to him for the purpose to forsake our sins so that we will now follow our Lord in obedience to his commands in holy living.

So, there is zeal which is of God, and there is zeal which is of the flesh, and there are works that are of God, and that are required of God, and that God created us to do, as his people. So not all zeal for God and not all works are of the flesh. So we need to know the difference. And therefore we are not to be those who are slothful in zeal for the Lord and for his work, but we are to be fervent in spirit in serving our Lord in the ways he has called us to serve him and to live for him as his possession, with him as our Lord.

[Eph 2:10; 1 Co 15:58; 2 Co 9:8; Gal 5:6; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:9-14; 2 Thess 1:11-12; 2 Tim. 2:21; Tit 2:11-14; Jn 15:1-11; Tit 3:8; Jas 2:17]

For if our faith in Jesus Christ is genuine God-persuaded and God-gifted faith, then our hearts’ desire should now be to walk in obedience to our Lord and to serve him in the ways in which he has called and commanded that we serve and obey him. So when he gifts us with Spiritual gifts that we are to use for the encouragement and edification of the body of Christ, we should want to do that. And when he gives us our assignments within the body of Christ, we should rejoice and have zeal for doing those assignments.

[Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]

For this is the life of the true Christian. For Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to his righteousness. And he shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery to sin so that we will now honor and obey the Lord with our lives, in service to him. And that should be a joy to our hearts, and we should be fervent in spirit in wanting to do God’s will for our lives, even if it means being hated and rejected and persecuted, even by other professing Christians.

[1 Peter 2:24; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 6:1-23; Luke 9:23-26]

But we are to be patient in tribulation, knowing that God has called us to himself for a very specific purpose which he wants us to fulfill, and so all that we go through in service to the Lord serves his purposes in our own lives, in maturing us and strengthening us in the Lord, and so that we are more humble and compassionate, yet very determined, too, to hold fast to the word of the Lord and to not make compromises with the world. For us to be his witnesses, we must be faithful to the truth of the Scriptures.

And then we are to be those who have open two-way communication with our Lord around the clock to where we can talk with him any time of day or night and to where he can speak to us, the same, and we will listen and obey him when he speaks. And in these times, as well, is when he will put it on our hearts to give to a specific need of someone or to pray for them or to invite people to our home for a meal in order to show them the love of God and because we genuinely do care about them and about their needs.

Trust and Obey  

Words by John H. Sammis, 1887

Music by Daniel B. Towner, 1887

When we walk with the Lord 

in the light of His Word,

What a glory He sheds on our way!

While we do His good will, 

He abides with us still,

And with all who will trust and obey. 

Not a shadow can rise, 

not a cloud in the skies,

But His smile quickly drives it away;

Not a doubt or a fear, 

not a sigh or a tear,

Can abide while we trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear, 

not a sorrow we share,

But our toil He doth richly repay;

Not a grief or a loss, 

not a frown or a cross,

But is blessed if we trust and obey.

But we never can prove 

the delights of His love

Until all on the altar we lay;

For the favor He shows, 

for the joy He bestows,

Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet 

We will sit at His feet.

Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.

What He says we will do, 

Where He sends we will go;

Never fear, only trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way

To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB4KcleYiWM