Romans 12:9

Plain English Version

Don’t just pretend to love other people. You have to love them properly. That means you have to hate everything that is bad for them and love everything that is good for them.

Cross References

Psalm 34:14

Turn away from doing bad things, and do good things. Don’t fight with people or make trouble. Try very hard to live happily with other people.

John 12:6

But, you know, Judas didn’t really feel sorry for poor people. He was the one that looked after the money bag, and sometimes he stole some of that money for himself.

Acts 11:23

He got to Antioch, and he saw everything that was happening. Then he knew that God was very good to the people there, so he was very happy. He told those new Christians, “Stay strong for Jesus and keep on following him all the time.”

1 Thessalonians 2:3

You see, we only told you true things. We told you the good news so that you can believe God’s message. We were not trying to trick you. We were not trying to get you to believe things that are not true.

1 Thessalonians 5:15

If somebody does something bad to you, don’t try to do payback to them, but always try to be good to each other and to everyone else too.

1 Thessalonians 5:21

but listen carefully when anyone tells you a message from God. Think carefully about everything they say, and find out if it really comes from God. Then, if it is right, be careful to remember it and to do those good things.

1 Timothy 1:5

You see, you have to teach people to do what is right, and to believe in God properly, and to never do bad things. Then they will properly love each other all the time. We want people to follow the things that we teach, so that they live that way.

James 3:17

But whenever we think God’s way, we are like this, – We keep away from doing anything bad. – We want to make other people happy, and we want to help them to be friends with each other. – We are easy on other people, not hard. – We listen to people and let them get a fair go. – We feel sorry for people that have problems, and we do everything we can to help them. – We are fair to everybody. We don’t treat some people good and other people like they are rubbish. – We don’t pretend that we are better than we really are.

1 Peter 1:22

You listened to the true message from God, and you did everything he said in that message. Then God cleaned up your lives and you stopped doing bad things. So now you love each other. Well, keep on loving each other very much.

1 Peter 4:8

And this is the most important thing you’ve got to do, you’ve got to keep on loving each other very much. Even if somebody does something bad to you, you have to love them, and be good to them anyway, and don’t do payback to them.