When Loving Means to Hate

…Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

Romans 12:9

Apostle Paul is exhorting the believers in Rome to have love without pretence. To the Romans love means lusting, and thinking of oneself. It refers to a commitment to self and selfish needs and never considering others, unless it benefit ourselves. What a contrast to the principles of the bible and the heart of GOD, who loved the world so much that He gave His Son to die for the sins of this world. May we never forget that love is the badge of the new believer, the symbol of the new life in Christ, and the reflection of God’s heart for this lost world and GOD’s will for us as Christians. Continuing the discourse on loving each other, Paul exhorts the believer to do the following:

Hate that which is evil:

The word abhor means to avoid, refrain from and to turn from; the word unkind refers to that which is unkind, malicious, hatred, selfish. Paul, in teaching the believers to love without pretending, firstly admonishes them to refrain from all that is unkind, and malicious (the evil). When a sick man wants to recover from an illness, he will heed the doctor’s advice to avoid certain foods and drinks that will aggravate the disease, so the Lord teaches us to refrain from the evil maliciousness and unkindness that will poison the love that GOD wants us to have for each other. Many relationships and christian fellowship has been broken when a brother or a sister chooses to retain unkindness – Paul says to hate the evil.

Cleave to that which is good:

The word cleave means the act of uniting firmly by glue, and practically, it refers to a very firm, constant, consistent, and active commitment to an object or a cause. The good here refers to doing deeds of kindness (in the context of the verse), or good to people in general. The word good always implies a benefit to others. GOD’s will for Christians is to be firmly committed to doing good and being a benefit to others. Like a volunteer whose job is to hand out benefit packages to the poor and the needy, the believer in Christ, having received a higher calling, whose life have been changed by the power of GOD, and has been given the power of the Spirit of GOD in his life to do the right and kind thing, does good that will benefit the lives of the people around and bring blessings in their lives.

As we have been saved by the blood of Christ, we are to love one another according to the will of GOD, and that means: hating, departing from anything malicious, and evil and to superglue ourselves to the good that GOD has appointed that we do to our beloved in Christ.

Let us refrain from all that is evil and commit ourselves to doing all that is good for others so as to glorify GOD.