Romans 12:9 (DBY)

Passage

Let love be unfeigned; abhorring evil; cleaving to good:

Nearby Context

Romans 12:7 or service, [let us occupy ourselves] in service; or he that teaches, in teaching;

Romans 12:8 or he that exhorts, in exhortation; he that gives, in simplicity; he that leads, with diligence; he that shews mercy, with cheerfulness.

Romans 12:9 Let love be unfeigned; abhorring evil; cleaving to good:

Romans 12:10 as to brotherly love, kindly affectioned towards one another: as to honour, each taking the lead in paying it to the other:

Romans 12:11 as to diligent zealousness, not slothful; in spirit fervent; serving the Lord.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "love", "unfeigned", "abhorring", "evil", "cleaving", and "good". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "love" and "unfeigned", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "or he that exhorts in exhortation he..." into verse 10's "as to brotherly love kindly affectioned towards...", so "love" and "unfeigned" belong inside that flow. In Romans context, the local focus is righteousness by faith, union with Christ, life in the Spirit, and God's covenant faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "love" and "unfeigned" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.