Reasonable: Part 3–What is Good

Love must be honest and true. Hate what is evil. Hold on to what is good. (Romans 12:9 NIRV)

 

Back in Part 2, we discussed how God gives various spiritual gifts to individuals, so that we can build up the Church, with each member doing its part, just like the parts of our body.

 

So what does it look like when the Church is functioning this way?  It’s a lot more detailed than making sure the Wednesday night potluck goes off without a hitch!

 

First, we must remember that these are SPIRITUAL gifts, which means that there must have been a spiritual transformation that has taken place already.  The greatest evidence of this is love.

 

Not feelings, but actions.  There is no room in the body of Christ for hypocrisy or two-faced gossiping.  We have to get this part right before we can move on with the rest of verse 9.

Hate what is evil

 

If this sounds familiar, it is because we covered this verse thoroughly in the Necessity of Being Intolerant series.

 

I feel like I should reiterate, though, that the Bible clearly states to hate WHAT is evil, not WHO.  There are still too many people misinterpreting this verse to justify judgmentalism.  We are not talking about hating people here. We are talking about behaviors and habits.

 

For more details regarding “what is evil,” I would encourage you to review the Necessity of Being Intolerant series, especially part 1.  But for now, I want to focus on the rest of Romans 12:9.

Hold on to What is Good

 

Verses 10-12 contain several examples of what is good, the things that we should hold on to.  Let’s break this down verse by verse.

 

10 Love one another deeply. Honor others more than yourselves.

 

What is good in this verse is humility. C.S. Lewis once said that humility is not so much about thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.  When the members of the Church body are focused where they should be, they don’t just use “brother” and “sister” as honorary titles, but truly do treat everyone else in the Church as family.

 

Remember, false humility makes a show of itself to build up the person showing it, but real humility builds up others, and is not self-seeking.

 

11 Stay excited about your faith as you serve the Lord.

 

When you know your calling, your work should be a joy, not a grind.  God’s part is to prepare the work for us and equip us to do it.  Our part is to have a zeal to meet God where He’s already working and join Him in that work.

 

12 When you hope, be joyful. When you suffer, be patient. When you pray, be faithful.

 

Hope does not mean the kind of hope that is desperation mixed with doubt.  This is a joyful expectation.  You’re not wishing that something might happen; you’re eagerly awaiting something good that you are certain is coming.

 

Yet while we are hoping and waiting, sometimes we are suffering.  When I first wrote this on 12/12/2020, many were suffering from the financial fallout of COVID-19. Many still are today.

 

Regardless of our gifts, one of the fruits of the Spirit that all believers receive is patience.  Some older English translations actually use the word “longsuffering.”  If we have joyful hope that what is good is on the way, this helps us to endure what is not so good.

 

And we endure these things by being faithful in prayer.  No matter how grim our circumstances get, we always have the ability to exercise this discipline.  God can handle our anger and our disappointment, but He also wants us to remember that what is good comes from Him, and always at exactly the right time.

 

(For more of what is good, come back for Part 4—The Best of Your Ability)