“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” -Romans 12:9
Paul moves from encouraging believers to use their spiritual gifts for the benefit of others to a general statement about the attitude that should motive the believers’ use of gifts, genuine love.
In the next verse, he will hone in on more specific applications of love but here he makes a general and inclusive statement about ἀγάπη (agape). The Greek word translated love in this case has a variety of applications but it is typically used when it applies in the most generous and unrestricted sense possible.
Love should be genuine, Paul says. The word genuine is from the Greek word, ἀνυπόκριτος, meaning without pretense; literally, αν without ὑποκριτής pretending or acting.
What naturally accompanies such love is that one is oriented rightly toward that which is good and evil, abhorring what is evil (the privation or corruption of good) while holding onto or standing by that which is good. Genuine, sincere love can only be oriented this way.
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