Day 8 What Does Real Love Look Like? (Part 1)
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:9-12
As in 1 Corinthians 12, and 13, Paul moves here from the body of Christ, to the diversity of gifts in the body, to the overriding need for love.
So far in Romans all references to love have been to the love of God – demonstrated through the cross (5:8), poured into our hearts (5:5) and refusing to let us go (8:35,39). But now Paul focuses on love as the essence of Christian discipleship. Romans 12 to 15 is a sustained exhortation to let love govern and shape all our relationships. There are twelve components to love in this section. We will look at the first eight here.
(1) sincerity: ‘Love must be sincere’ (12:9)
The word ‘sincere’ translate a word literally meaning ‘without hypocrisy.’ In Paul’s day the ‘hypocrites’ were the actors in a play. They played a part. Genuine agape love is authentic. We are real people and no longer pretend to be who we’re not.
(2) discernment: ‘Hate what is evil; cling to what is good’ (12:9)
A surgeon can hate cancer because he or she sees it destroy all that is good in the human body. We can hate what is evil because evil will destroy everything good in this life. Love’s ‘hatred’ of evil expresses an aversion, an abhorrence and a loathing of all that’s evil, and contrasts love’s ‘clinging’ to what is good (a sticking or bonding and is used of a sexual relationship in 1 Corinthians 6:16,17).
(3) affection: ‘Be devoted to one another in brotherly love’ (12:10)
Paul brings together two family words. ‘Be devoted’ translates a word describing our natural affection within a family, especially the love of a parent for a child. The word for ‘brotherly love’ describes the love between brothers and sisters. Both words were obviously used in a family setting but Paul reapplies them to the warm affection which should unite God’s family.
(4) honour: ‘Honor one another above yourselves’ (12:10)
Love between God’s people should express itself not only in a mutual affection but also in a mutual honour. It’s not certain whether Paul meant ‘esteem others more highly than yourself’ (Philippians 2:3) or ‘outdo one another in showing honour’ (RSV) because the verb (‘honor … above’) meant ‘to surpass.’
(5) enthusiasm: ‘Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord ’ (12:11)
‘Never be lacking in zeal’ is literally ‘in zeal, don’t be lazy.‘ ’Keep your spiritual fervor’ translates more exactly ‘be set on fire in/by the Spirit/spirit.’ Paul might be referring to the human ‘spirit’ or more likely, the Holy Spirit as the agent who inflames our passion for God and His work. Knowing human passion can sometimes be misguided, he adds that spiritual passion must always be in the obedient service of Christ.
(6) joy; ‘be joyful in hope’ (12:12)
We are to exhibit joy in our confident, trustful expectations of the hope (confident expectation) of God’s future glory.
(7) patience: ‘patient in affliction’ (12:12)
Being ‘joyful in hope’ will produce endurance in the present difficult circumstances. The word ‘patient’ means ‘to remain under.’ It describes a forbearing attitude while remaining under the difficulty. Here the difficulty is ‘affliction,’ a word that means a pressing or pressure, anything that burdens the spirit.
(8) prayerful: ‘faithful in prayer’ (12:12)
God wants us to draw on Him and His grace in our ‘affliction.’ We do this principally in prayer. Paul calls on the community to be ‘faithful in prayer.’ He uses a word that stresses endurance, persevering, being steadfast. This was strong prayer that didn’t let go of God.
God’s love will always be sincere, discerning, affectionate and respectful. It is enthusiastic and joyful, patient and prayerful. Paul adds six more qualities covered in the next devotional.