What’s in the mirror?

Scripture Read: Romans 12:9-13 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; 11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, 13 contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

Application: How important is it to be real? How in the world can we ever get a grip on life if our own life is not built on reality? It is interesting that as Paul begins this instruction on how we should live with each other – he emphasizes realness and hatred! Notice …

Without Hypocrisy - ἀνυπόκριτος anupókritos; - Combination of - without and to pretend, simulate. Originally it meant inexperienced in the art of acting. In the NT, it came to mean one without hypocrisy or pretense, unfeigned, genuine, real, true, sincere –

Abhor - ἀποστυγέω apostugéō; To hate, abhor, detest with horror or have a horror of. ^[1]

What a combination of words – Not that acting is what we want to do but here in the original even a bad actor was looked down upon. If you’re a great actor people believe what you are pretending to be – that really brings a different side to the idea of hypocrisy – even in pretending there should be a sense of authenticity. The key here is that whatever you are, it should be authentic! Is it clear that what we are IS what we are? An actor is not only an actor – he is a good or bad actor. Our love should not be a bad imitation of the real thing – it should be the real thing. This is what it means to not live in hypocrisy. With that comes the other punch of the successful Christian life – Hating evil – I really like the intensity of this word – “have a horror of” I have not gotten here yet – but Lord I want to have a horror of sin! We cannot do this without You! Many of us find that we kind of just dislike sin. That will never lead us to the walk we desire with You Lord! Father create in us a hatred of that which is against You and not Holy! Holy Spirit we need Your empowering in this!   

* Meditation Questions: How close to sin to I keep myself? What is my attitude toward even questionable things? Does it really matter if someone else can do it? Why? Is the person in the mirror really me or what I want others to see? Would the public me look like the private me?

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Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary : New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.