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. As Paul said to the Ephesians:
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:11-16 (NIV)
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. Agape love goes hand in hand with sincerity and integrity. When we speak Truth and mean what we say, we build trust with others. In so doing, we build each other up like living bricks and mortar.
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
Before we go any further, I want to emphasize 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.
There is significant Biblical precedent for this concept as well. Please consider the following:
You love justice and hate evil.
For this reason God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of joy, elevating you above your companions. Psalm 45:7 (NET)
Love the Lord
and hate evil!
God protects his loyal people
and rescues them
from violence. Psalm 97:10 (CEV)
I am Wisdom—Common Sense
is my closest friend;
I possess knowledge
and sound judgment.
If you respect the Lord,
you will hate evil.
I hate pride and conceit
and deceitful lies. Proverbs 8:12-13 (CEV)
Like love, hate in this context is also more an action than a feeling. It is more of an active opposition than a bombastic side-eye.
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 they do truly treat everyone else in the Church as family.
This is what it means to love one another deeply:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-5 (NIV)
Remember, false humility makes a show of itself to build up the person showing it, but real humility, being rooted in love, 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 wrote the original version of this post on 12/12/2020, many were suffering from the financial fallout of COVID-19. Today in 2026, there are still many who have never fully recovered from that. Many of these people are Christians. So, what are we supposed to make of this?
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)
