DAILY DEVOTION, February 3, 2022

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

(Romans 12:9).

I like plain speaking. Sometimes politicians (preachers also!) speak such double talk that you really don’t know what they are saying. I hear politicians on TV asked a question, and their response dances around the issue and never answers the question.  Paul speaks with plainness and simplicity in our verse for today.

Love with integrity. Hypocritical “love” is when someone pretends to care about you, but they really don’t care at all. Paul tells us to love others and God with genuine love. Nothing fuzzy about that statement. Then he tells us to abhor evil. Other translations use the words “hate” and “detest” evil. Lust is evil. Hatred is evil. Gossip is evil. Do you detest these things? I think Paul is telling us plainly not to flirt with evil. Finally, he tells us to cling to what is good. We don’t scratch our heads at that statement and wonder, “What does he mean?” Hold on tightly to what is good. God is good. Jesus is good. Hold firmly to your faith in God. The Bible is good. Cling to its words. God’s will is good. Hold to it securely. Don’t make living as a Christian complicated. Here and elsewhere, God speaks to us in words that cannot be misunderstood.

Thank you, Father, for the apostles’ writings which speak with great clarity regarding the Christian life. Help me to take Paul’s words in Romans 12:9 seriously. In Jesus’ name, Amen.