Let love be genuine. Romans 12:9
Imagine that you are chosen to serve on a focus group made up of first-century Christians.
The facilitator enters the room and she says, “The challenge we face is to overcome the growing tide of evil that is all around us. None of us would have chosen Nero as our emperor, but this is the reality we are facing, so the task we have in this group is to come up with some strategies for overcoming evil.”
“All of you have a pad of paper and a pencil; and I want each of you to write down what you think should be the top five strategies for Christians if we are to overcome evil in these increasingly dark days in which we live.”
What would be on your list? Prayer? Raise up more godly leaders? Teach our children the difference between right and wrong? More evangelism and church planting? All of these are good and necessary things, but none of them is what God says here.
Where do you begin if you want to overcome evil with good? “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” (Rom. 12:9-10).
Christians “loving each other” would probably not have been at the top of most of our strategies for overcoming evil, so it is very striking that when God lays out the steps that lead to overcoming evil with good the first thing he says is, “Let love be genuine.” If you want to overcome evil with good, this is where you must begin!
Why do you think ‘love’ is at the top of God’s list when it comes to overcoming evil?
