Chrysostom had this to say about love: “Love by itself is not enough; there must be zeal as well. For zeal also comes out of loving and gives it warmth, so that the one confirms the other. For there are many who have love in their mind but do not stretch out their hand. This is why Paul calls on every means he knows to build up love.” Like Paul before him, Chrysostom is keenly aware that ideological abstractions or rhetoric without accompanying action fails to create or sustain community. But stretching out one’s hand requires great courage since there is always the legitimate risk of rejection, on both micro and macro levels.

Ben Witherington III

Paul’s Letter to the Romans