Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.

Romans 12:9

With powerful echoes of a two-pronged Proverb where taking just one part doesn’t tell the whole truth, these four phrases are sewn firmly together by the thread of love. So let’s not be tempted to unpick them for our own comfort. This thread holds together not only kindness, loyalty and selflessness but also accountability, discipline and integrity. Really loving can be tough when it calls for hating sin within that sinner whom you love. But standing in the gap is what love does; it doesn’t leave the person stranded on the other side but tugs at the thread between them. Love takes a deep breath, prays hard and risks all because that’s what not pretending looks like.