ESOCS Devotional 30 March 2025 – Sincere Love
MEMORY VERSE: “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” Romans 12:9 NIV
TEXT: ROMANS 12:1-15
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7 or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient[c] in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
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Our text describes love among Christians. True love learns to hate evil but not to reject the good. Hypocritical love which pretends to be Christian does the opposite. Hate what is evil in people, but don’t reject the person because of the evil. God loves that person. He or she is made in the image of God.
Love remembers that relationship is the ground of concern, and not friendship. That is why the Bible says, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love” (v 10). This doesn’t refer to just anyone that is in need; it specifies your brother or sister. The basis of concern for one another is not that we know each other well or enjoy one another; it is that we are related to one another. If we are Christians, we know that we already have a tie that ought to evoke care for one another. They are our brother, our sister and so we treat them warmly and with acceptance.
Again, true love regards others as more deserving than yourself (v 10). I like the J. B. Philips translation here. It says, “Be willing to let other men have the credit.” If you really don’t care who gets the credit, then you can just enjoy yourself and do all kinds of good deeds. Just be glad that it is done, and don’t worry about who gets the credit. Our flesh doesn’t like that. It is very eager to be recognized, but the Word tells us that real love will not act that way.
Real love retains enthusiasm despite setbacks (v 11). One of the most noticeable marks of a Christian walking in the Spirit is that he retains enthusiasm, always rejoicing in hope. He never lets his spiritual zeal flag or sag, but maintains it.
True love rejoices in hope (vv. 12, 15). You can rejoice in hope because you are patient in affliction, and you are patient in affliction because you have been faithful in prayer. So, when trials come, the thing to do is to begin with prayer. If you are faithful in prayer, you will be able to be patient in affliction. That will make you rejoice in hope — because you know that God has a thousand and one different ways of working things out.
True love responds to needs (v 13). These days, we tend to forget that there are still human needs and that we have a responsibility to meet them. We need to be reminded that people are still hurting and that it is a direct responsibility of Christians to care for one another’s needs.
Finally, true love only speaks blessings and not curses (v 14). It takes one who has experienced the love of Jesus to be able to endure persecutions and still choose to bless people.
CHALLENGES
- God has not rejected you irrespective of what you have done. Do you believe?
PRAYER POINT
- Lord, help me to always remember that you have not rejected me but have chosen me as a remnant, in Jesus name. Amen.
FURTHER READING: Judges 11:1–27; 13:1–end; Romans 12:16-end
ESOCS Devotional 30 March 2025
