Romans 12:9-13 NKJV
“9Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.”
The Video Portion
Now at the end of this you will see a link to a video talk I
did on this passage of Scripture. These talks are mostly all not preplanned and
prescripted video talks, but generally I just read the passage and then just
talk about it as the Lord leads. It is a lot like we are just sitting in the
living room across from one another and I am just sharing what I get out of the
passage as I read it. And while the video is being uploaded to the internet,
then the Lord has me write the written portion, which is not going to be an
exact replica of what is in the video. But again, I am trusting the Lord to
give me the right words.
Love Without Hypocrisy
This word “love” means to prefer, more specifically to
prefer what God prefers. And what he prefers is all that is godly, righteous,
morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord and to his
commands. And to be hypocritical is to pretend something you are not, to give
the outward appearance of being one way while in private, when no one else is
looking, you are the opposite of that. It is to claim love with your lips, but
while you do what is unloving, usually deliberately and habitually, without
conscience.
Abhor What is Evil
We learn about what God regards as evil when we read the
Scriptures. But if we are true followers of Christ, we have the Holy Spirit
living within us giving us a conscience and biblical discernment to know what
is evil as opposed to what is good. And yet the Scriptures teach that if we do
evil that we are without excuse because God has revealed himself to us through
his created works. So if we choose evil, we do so in rejection of the Lord
because our flesh prefers evil over good. But we are to be those who truly hate
evil.
Cling to What is Good
What is good is to be determined by God and by the teachings
of the Scriptures and not by human flesh. What is good is what God prefers
which is all that is holy, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient
to our Lord and to his commands. This is what we are to embrace. This is what
we are to hold on to. This is to be what we look like and how we live, in
practice. And this goes right along with abhorring evil. So what is good is not
ignoring evil, but it is calling evil what it is, and calling people to
repentance.
Brotherly Love
Now this kind of love is more of an affectionate and
friendly and relational kind of love among followers of Christ. But it still
needs to be the kind of love which comes from God and which prefers what God
prefers. The two go hand-in-hand. We should love the sinners, but we should
hate the sin. We should not give people permission to keep living in sin, doing
evil to others, because we want to show them “brotherly kindness.” For it is
never kind to lie to people by giving them permission to keep on in habitual
sin.
Serving the Lord
As those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, we are to be
followers of Christ who obey him and his commands and who put sin to death, by
the Spirit, and who walk in holiness and in righteousness, all in the power of
God. Our lives are to be surrendered to the Lord, in his service, diligent and
fervent in spirit in our desire to serve the Lord and to do his will. We are
not to be lazy and slothful people who give God a short nod of notice while we
go on living in the flesh. We are to be serious about obeying him daily, in
practice.
Rejoicing in Hope
Now here we need to test the spirits to see which ones are
of God. And we need to be testing what we hear as “the gospel” message against
the teachings of the Scriptures in their correct biblical context. Many people
are teaching lies and are giving people a false hope of eternity with God. But
Jesus taught that to come after him we must deny self, die to sin daily, and
follow him in obedience to his commands. And this involves tribulations and suffering
for the sake of the truth of gospel at the hands of the deceivers.
Meeting Needs
Now this one requires much spiritual discernment. Yes, we
should be loving and compassionate people who care about what others are going
through who reach out to help where we can. And we are to be those who are
actively ministering to the needs of our fellow Christians who are followers of
Christ. We are not to be selfish and stingy. But so many liars and con artists
are preying upon the compassionate hearts of others in order to take advantage
of them. So pray for discernment to know what true needs are.
Safe in the Arms of Jesus
By Frances J. Crosby and William H. Doane 1868
Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe on His gentle breast;
There by His love o’ershaded,
Sweetly my soul shall rest.
Hark! ’tis the voice of angels
Borne in a song to me,
Over the fields of glory,
Over the jasper sea.
Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe from corroding care,
Safe from the world’s temptations;
Sin cannot harm me there.
Free from the blight of sorrow,
Free from my doubts and fears;
Only a few more trials,
Only a few more tears!
Jesus, my heart’s dear Refuge,
Jesus has died for me;
Firm on the Rock of Ages
Ever my trust shall be.
Here let me wait with patience,
Wait till the night is o’er;
Wait till I see the morning
Break on the golden shore.
https://youtu.be/BllH3EmH-og?si=mijnyAEtsN8JYV-K
Caution: this link may contain ads
Video Talk on The Same Subject
Behave Like You Love Jesus
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