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 …

The committed Christian life based on the solid doctrine of justification manifests itself not only in the exercise of spiritual gifts, but also in transformed character and attitudes. Verses 9-13 contain a concise character trait list that expand what it means to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind …” (Rom 12:2).

Christian love should be non-hypocritical, that is not selective (loving only loveable people) nor superficial (loving outwardly, but not with a genuine love – see 1 Cor 13). The world rightly points out when Christians are hypocritical in saying one thing but doing another. We so easily talk of love, but how much do we really love sacrificially and love “period.” John, the “beloved disciple” wrote in his old age, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20).

Our consumeristic, hedonistic society can so easily drape over the Christian to the point that we don’t stand out for our agape, self-sacrificing love. To this world, love should be the most notable thing about Christians, for after all, Jesus clearly taught, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

Second, the Christian should not just avoid evil or speak against evil, but he should “abhor” all manifestations or acts of evil. This has become increasingly difficult in our “politically correct” culture. But while we must never lose the main focus of the gospel message of God’s love to a lost and dying world, we are not called to be politically correct. We are to stand on the side of godly morality and focus tenaciously on what is good (see Phil 4:8).

The hardest people to love are those closest to us in the body of Christ, the local church. In close fellowship, we learn people’s foibles, idiosyncrasies, faults and failings. It is far easier to perform isolated acts of love for people we don’t know well. But those we rub shoulders with every week, serving on ministry teams together or deciding important issues in the church–getting along with them takes a working kind of love. It demands a devotion that is on going, and saturates all of our dealings with other Christians. That is devotion to brotherly love (Greek: philodelphia). In its most basic sense, it means to honor people by giving “preference to one another.”

Lord, help me love and honor ______ (whoever comes to your mind right now).