Clinging to the Good

The second part of Romans 12:9 instructs us to abhor evil and hold fast to what is good. In today’s world, it’s sometimes difficult to deal with the word hate, but the Bible clearly instructs us to hate something — evil. To hate evil means that we spend time searching God to determine what is actually pure and lovely to cling to.

Philippians 4:8 tells us that whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and praiseworthy is worth spending our time thinking over. These attributes reflect the nature of God, and these are the things that we want to reflect to others.

Clinging to the good also means that we cling to efforts that support many people. We want to be more selfless in honest, virtuous pursuits. If we want to do something that only benefits us or a few people, it may not reflect God’s goodness. God doesn’t operate out of scarcity; there is enough for all of his children to have their needs met. If we call ourselves Christ-followers, we should try to live in an abundance mindset every day. Selfishness can weigh us down, moving us away from looking more like Jesus.

The truth is the only person who knows the ultimate good is Jesus. If we’re unsure if something is truly the work of the kingdom, we can ask him. There are many things that are lawful but they are not beneficial to making God’s glory known (1 Corinthians 10:23). While it may be good, it may not be God. We want to do what God instructs and walk the life he has orchestrated for us to walk. Only then will we know that we are clinging to that which is good.