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Romans 12:9

NASB	NLT	VOICE
9 Love must be free of hypocrisy. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.	9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.	9 Love others well, and don’t hide behind a mask; love authentically. Despise evil; pursue what is good as if your life depends on it.

Love Others. Hate Bad. Do Good.

Genuine love must be sincere. The Greek word for sincere is anupokritos, meaning without hypocrisy. It’s a call for Christians to love authentically as God loves us. Within the Roman church at this time, where there were many social and ethnic divisions ongoing. This type of sincere love would have served as a radical and unifying force. Jesus taught His disciples to love each other as He had loved them. This would allow this love to be the greatest example to their faith.

To detest evil means to have a strong aversion to sin and wrongdoing. This was the biblical principle of holiness at work. Rome was full of pagan practices and moral corruption. We can detest evil and hold tight to what is good. This suggests an active and persistent attachment to righteousness and virtue. Clinging to what is good is a call to go after goodness as a reflection of God’s character. In the early church, it’s about adhering to the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, despite the pressures of society. Paul tells us that we should think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. Today, this also describes how we can resist injustices and systems that harm our neighbors.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: How does loving sincerely, hating what is wrong, clinging to what is good appear in your life?

The Traits of Kindness, Patience, and Forgiveness

Sincere love should be shown in the way we interact with each other in our community. It comes from showing three things: kindness, patience, and forgiveness. It’s important to recognize what these things represent from a biblical perspective, so we can accurately represent them in our real life.

Kindness is the Greek word chréstotés (khray-stot’-ace). It describes a moral love that shows itself through positive action. It’s a gentleness combined with proper usefulness, generosity, and an active goodness. It’s the true representation of how to care for others in the same way Christ cares for us. To express gentleness to those around us because we never know the true story of what someone is going through. Ensuring our demeanor comes from a place of loving gentleness that allows others to feel comfortable, safe, and genuine with us. A lot of will go out and wear a mask that will either allow us to control what type of personality that we want to give off or share an aura that we don’t want to be interacted with. This often comes from a place of personal trauma, rough experiences, and fear of the unknown. It is a role for us as Christians to be the safe place for all people, and to be able to all others to come genuinely and authentically to us.

Patience is the Greek word makrothumia (mak-roth-oo-mee’-ah). It’s described as a God-centered restraint that endures provocation. It doesn’t mean we accept resentment and retaliation from others, though. This is a purposeful waiting that holds on to righteousness and allows us to seek the good of others. People move differently through life. People progress at their own pace, often because of poor decision-making in the past, family upbringing, societal pressures, and more. As I’ve grown up over the years, I’ve recognized that many of the systems within the United States are broken. I don’t necessarily think that some of the systems are wrong – but they are not modernized for the society that we are in today. They have not been properly updated over the years and maintained to the point of sustainability. With situations like that, we do need to be patient. Unfortunately, patient with the systems that are in place – not in the sense of accepting the systems are they are currently, but to enduring in this slowness while we work and advocate for change. We are patient with the people that are attempting to utilize these systems as a means of survival. They can be frustrated, angry, defeated, anxious and panicked over the futility of these systems – and we can be a source of comfort, equalized frustration, and a place that can offer our love and resources in the best way possible.

Forgiveness is the Greek word aphesis (ah-feh-sis). This describes a process that results in a release, remission, or pardon. This is always centered on God and sin. It’s about the removal of guilt and the freedom that follows that. The center of it is about how God removes the guilt of our sin and our bondage to it through the sacrifice of Jesus. The freedom that comes with is shown through the freedom of Holy Spirit. Forgiveness, for humanity, is about the reconciliation of those that have been hurt. It’s not always a reconciliation of a relationship, but a reconciliation of your soul. I’ve learned before that forgiveness is for you, not for them. Meaning that that forgiveness that we either receive or give to others is centered around how you can free your soul from the incident. When you’ve hurt someone else, you are acknowledging that you have committed a sinful act towards another member of God’s creation, you are aware how much hurt you have caused to both them and yourself, and you are working to become a more Christ-like person. If you receive forgiveness, you acknowledge that you were hurt, you see the person attempting to do what is right, and you are comfortable with accepting they are sharing that they are wrong and will work to become better. This doesn’t mean that you must rekindle the relationship you had before, but you can feel free from that situation and can, in essence, close the chapter of what happened.

There are nuances where reconciliation is never happening, and situations will never exist to a point where forgiveness can happen – often referring to cases, of abuse, trauma, etc. In my opinion, based off of my experiences, you can offer that forgiveness to yourself for not having the knowledge in this situation and acted in the ways you did in the moment. Over time, some people choose to release those who hurt them from the power they still hold over their inner life – not to excuse what happened or say it was “right,”, but to loosen the grip of that harm on your soul.  This would allow you to move forward in time instead of staying focused on the hurt and locking yourself in the moment, to move forward – through therapy, proper mental health resources and guidance, and the support of loving family and friends. No one should be rushed or pressured into seeking

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: Regarding kindness, patience, and forgiveness – which trait do you find is the strongest within you? Which is the weakest?

PRAY Action

Praise God for the genuine kind of love that He has both shared with us and how we can share this with others.

Read John 13:34-35

Ask God for the ability to reflect on how you express kindness, forgiveness, and patience. To see which ways that you need to reshape and relearn how you comprehend these traits, and how you can better share these traits with the community around you.

You are strong to continue fighting for this world! To continue fighting for yourself and those around you in a world filled with broken systems. God’s love, light, and goodness is shining through you.

Next slice of manna: Building Others Up Beyond Yourself || 1 Corinthians 13:4 || Manna for the Mind #316