Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
I wrote a three-page, five-point paper on these verses for a lesson at church, but I want to give you the abridged version. This passage could preach for hours, but it can also be effectively summarized by two points. Keep in mind, these are things that love does and that love is. All that follows describes what the first line looks like. What is genuine love? How do we recognize it? How do we put feet to the concept of love?
Firstly, love is a humble thing. True, genuine love is humble. Humility is not about self-loathing. It is about being so absorbed with God and doing His will that we aren't focused on our own things. This humility results in the ability to forgive, the ability to rejoice with the rejoicers and weep with the weepers. It results in giving others the preference and eminence instead of itself. This humble love is able to let others have their way and to sit quietly by, content with God's sufficiency. This humility means we can live in harmony with others. Humility is the key to many key virtues, and it is derived from a knowledge of who God is and who we are His Creation. He is God; we aren't. He controls things; we don't.
Secondly, this genuine, proactive love overcomes evil with good. This is not a cosmic, mystical overcoming. Taken in context, this phrase is easy to understand. We are overcome by evil when our circumstances control our actions. When we justify our bad attitudes and bad reactions to others actions toward us, we demonstrate that we have not really had the message of the Gospel imprinted on our hearts so as to temper our behavior. But when we love despite being hated, when we give to those who would steal from us, when we turn the other cheek, then we overcome evil with good. To overcome evil with good means to act like a Christian no matter who is sinning against us, or what circumstances are befalling us. So we feed our enemies. We bless those who curse us. We give place to the wrath of God.
In reality, these two points are probably one, but that felt too easy. At the end of the day, the fear of God (a proper understanding of who God is and who we aren) impressed upon our hearts produces patience and love for others in our lives.
I wrote a three-page, five-point paper on these verses for a lesson at church, but I want to give you the abridged version. This passage could preach for hours, but it can also be effectively summarized by two points. Keep in mind, these are things that love does and that love is. All that follows describes what the first line looks like. What is genuine love? How do we recognize it? How do we put feet to the concept of love?
Firstly, love is a humble thing. True, genuine love is humble. Humility is not about self-loathing. It is about being so absorbed with God and doing His will that we aren't focused on our own things. This humility results in the ability to forgive, the ability to rejoice with the rejoicers and weep with the weepers. It results in giving others the preference and eminence instead of itself. This humble love is able to let others have their way and to sit quietly by, content with God's sufficiency. This humility means we can live in harmony with others. Humility is the key to many key virtues, and it is derived from a knowledge of who God is and who we are His Creation. He is God; we aren't. He controls things; we don't.
Secondly, this genuine, proactive love overcomes evil with good. This is not a cosmic, mystical overcoming. Taken in context, this phrase is easy to understand. We are overcome by evil when our circumstances control our actions. When we justify our bad attitudes and bad reactions to others actions toward us, we demonstrate that we have not really had the message of the Gospel imprinted on our hearts so as to temper our behavior. But when we love despite being hated, when we give to those who would steal from us, when we turn the other cheek, then we overcome evil with good. To overcome evil with good means to act like a Christian no matter who is sinning against us, or what circumstances are befalling us. So we feed our enemies. We bless those who curse us. We give place to the wrath of God.
In reality, these two points are probably one, but that felt too easy. At the end of the day, the fear of God (a proper understanding of who God is and who we aren) impressed upon our hearts produces patience and love for others in our lives.
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