What Do You “Cling” To?

Romans 12 contains many statements on how a Christian should live.  Having given us the theological basis for faith in Christ, Paul begins to give practical exhortation on how that basis should be lived out in the life of a believer. I’d like to talk about some of these practical exhortations; beginning with verse 9:  “Let love be without hypocrisy.  Abhor what is evil.  Cling to what is good”.  God’s love does not present itself one way and then act another way.  That is what “hypocrisy” means.  The word was used to describe an actor in a play; someone who is pretending to be someone he is not.  In God’s word we have many descriptions of God’s love, perhaps 1 Corinthians 13 being one of the best examples.  God’s love is patient, kind, keeps no record of wrongs, etc…  God’s people are to exhibit that kind of love as well.  Obviously we aren’t perfect and are not going to get it right all of the time but we can demonstrate God’s love.  Next Paul says to cling to what is good and abhor what is evil.  This sounds pretty basic doesn’t it?  Christians should run away from evil things, literally abhorring or hating them.  That doesn’t mean we hate the people, but we hate the evil.  Some believe that the phrase, “love the sinner, hate the sin”, is not a biblical idea but it very much so is biblical.  God, and His children, are to love the sinner but we are to abhor the evil. Yes, you can love the sinner and hate the sin; in fact, it is a command.  We are also to cling to what is good.  The word “cling” has to do with uniting or a strong bond or attachment. This is what Christians are to do…cling to the good…wrap ourselves around the good.

Do you abhor what is evil?  Do you know what is evil?  Do you cling to what is good; or are you sort of holding onto something that you know is evil?  Or are you running away from something that is good?  Let God’s love rule in your heart, guiding you away from evil and toward good.