Love must be sincere.  Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.  Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.  Honor one another above yourselves.  Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Share with God’s people who are in need.  Practice hospitality.

The English teacher in me rose up when reading this passage.  If you look closely, these are not suggestions; they are in the imperative voice, which means they are commands.  Vs. 10 specifically caught my attention.  “Be devoted to one another.”  The actual Greek word for devoted in this section means tenderly loving, kindly affection.  Webster’s dictionary definition: dedicated, very loving, loyal or faithful.  So…the command with regard to each other comes down to this: be tenderly loving toward one another.  With kindly affection be dedicated, loyal and lovingly faithful.    This is a command.  obeying it means we treat all our Christian brothers and sisters in this way – husbands, bosses, friends, siblings.  Obeying just this one command could revolutionize our lives and ministries as we act this way toward one another.