Tag: Living out the Gospel

Digging in Deeper: Romans 12:11

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“Do not lack diligence in zeal; be fervent in the Spirit; serve the Lord.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When I was growing up, we had a golden retriever named Ginger. She was a really good dog. I’ve never had another dog since. I still remember the last time I took her for a walk before we had to put her to sleep. In any event, when she was a puppy, the rule was that she couldn’t leave the kitchen. She could enjoy our full, big backyard, but in the house, the kitchen and dining room was the extent of her domain. The stated reason for this was so she didn’t make the rest of the house dirty. The real reason was that every time my dad got home from work, she would get so excited to see him that she would pee all over the floor. Linoleum is easy to clean, and we cleaned it a lot. Carpet…not so much. She had lots of zeal, but not much diligence. Today we’re going to keep working our way through Paul’s list of specific instructions giving us a framework for what it looks like to follow Jesus. And unlike our previous couple of attempts, I’m not even going to try to tackle more than one verse. Let’s dive in.

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Morning Musing: Romans 12:10

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“Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Hearing that we are to be following Jesus and mimicking His character is one thing. Having an actual set of guidelines to help us know where the lines on that effort are so that we may live comfortably within them is another. We need both if we are going to get it right. Thankfully, in the second half of Romans 12, the apostle Paul gives us just such a list. We started out our walk through this list last week. I had initially planned to tackle the first four verses covering the first eleven of the commands Paul gives, but as I started writing, there was a lot to say about just the first verse, so we stopped with that. My plan as I’m sitting down this morning is to get through verse 12, but as my Wednesday night Bible study group knows, sometimes we don’t get as far as we planned. So, let’s talk specifics on following Jesus, and see how far we get.

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Morning Musing: Romans 12:3

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“For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Christianity has changed the world many times over. One of the ways it has done this is through its revolution and expansion of virtue. The number of characteristics considered to be virtues and encouraged for its followers to adopt into their own lives was greatly expanded by the teachings of Jesus and His first followers. One of the most radical of these changes was the transformation of one attitude into a virtue that had always been considered a vice. Let’s talk about what it was.

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