Let love prevail in our lives

FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH

By Bruce Humes

Pastor

Let’s take a look at chapter 12 in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the early church in Rome. Picking up in Romans 12:9, the apostle writes concerning social conduct and traits that should be prevalent in a Christian’s life, not only to those within the body of believers, but also to those in unbelief. Certainly an area that all believers need to pay close attention to is our walk and profession of faith in Christ.

In 1 Timothy 1:5, the apostle Paul put it like this, “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith.” The Greek word used in these two verses for love is “agape” meaning affection, benevolence or charity. An unconditional love without boundaries and limits. John used the word agape in John 3:16, when he wrote, “For God so loved (agape) the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” It’s a great example of the love we are to have for fellow believers and those in unbelief as well.

We are to do all of this without hypocrisy, meaning without false pretense or concealing our true thoughts and feelings, and do things from a pure heart, good conscience and sincere (unhypocritical) faith. The second half of Romans 12:9 says, “Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.” Abhor, or utterly detest, what is evil, meaning bad, grievous, harmful, hateful, malicious, wicked, etc., but cling, cleave, glue yourself, to what is good, such as being helpful, kind, generous, or forgiving. These were clear instructions from the apostle Paul to the church in Rome that still apply to us today. We need to heed his words.

Paul goes on to say in verse 10, “Be kindly affectionate to one another (fellow believers, and unbelievers) with brotherly love, (the Greek word here is “philadelphia” meaning fraternal affection, a brotherly sort of love) in honor giving preference to one another.” The verse is telling us to put others before ourselves. Paul tells those Roman Christians and the modern day church to quit worrying so much about ourselves and put others first.

The whole message sounds a lot like the second greatest commandment, “love your neighbor as yourself.” In doing so, we convey the love of Christ not only to fellow believers, but to those in unbelief in a powerful way. However, we will only succeed if we fulfill the first and greatest commandment, which is, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

For any of us to succeed in loving our neighbors as ourselves we must fulfill the first commandment first, for it is from God that we get the power and ability to love others as Christ loved us. The apostle continues in verse 11, “not lagging in diligence (being lazy, falling behind, but) fervent (hot, glowing, boiling) in spirit, serving the Lord.”

Paul’s message to those Roman Christians and to all believers today was let love prevail, avoid hypocrisy, detest evil, seek to do good and don’t be lazy about it, but be on fire for the Lord. A message we (believers) should be paying close attention to in our Christian walk of faith.

If you wish to speak to someone at the church or if you have a need, call the First Christian Church office at (562) 431-8810. Leave a recorded message and someone will return your call as soon as possible.