“Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.”
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. — Agapē (love, self-giving love) without hypocrisia (pretense, masked theater) opens the ethical section. The command to hate (miseō) kakos (evil, harm) and cleave to agathos (good, beneficial) reflects the dualism of moral choice—not neutrality but active allegiance to good.
Church Fathers on Romans 12:9
For, “Let love be without dissimulation,” he says, If you have this, you will not perceive the loss of your money, the labor of your person, the toil of your words, your trouble, and your ministering, but you will bear all courageously, whether it be with person, or money, or word, or any other thing whatsover, that you are to assist your neighbor. As then he does not ask for giving only, but that with simplicity, nor aiding, but that with diligence, nor alms, but that with…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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