Tag: Romans

Digging in Deeper: Romans 12:13

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“Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the things the church offers the world that really isn’t found anywhere else in the same way or at the same level is community. The community available in the church is good. Really good. In a world where multiple governments have declared loneliness an epidemic, the church offers a real solution to this problem. But as good as community in the church is (or at least can be), it’s not easy. It’s not easy for a variety of reasons, mostly connected to sin. We need help to get it right. As Paul continues offering bullet point commands for kingdom living, these next several commands all speak to getting community right. Let’s take a look.

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Digging in Deeper: Romans 12:12

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“Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

As a longtime fan of the Kansas City Royals, I know what wishful thinking is. A decade ago now, all the metaphorical baseball planets aligned, and we were genuinely really good. Since then? And for most of the thirty years before then? Not so much. In just the last 25 years alone they’ve lost more than 100 games seven times, and gotten close to that grim marker of a truly terrible season another four times. And yet in almost every season there’s a stretch when they actually look like they’re going to be a real baseball team. The fans start getting excited. And you let yourself think, “This is finally the season they’re going to turn it around.” But they almost never do. Instead, we have learned to be patient in affliction and persistent in prayer. Real hope, though, has not given us much reason for rejoicing. As it turns out, all three of these ideas are commands Paul issues next in his list of lifestyle characteristics of a follower of Jesus. Let’s keep rolling with him.

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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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Digging in Deeper: Romans 12:9

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“Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What does it look like to follow Jesus? It looks like living as if He were Lord. Okay, but what does that look like? We want details. We want specifics. We want to know what kinds of things we should be doing on a day-to-day basis. Thankfully, Paul’s letter to the believers in first century Rome, and especially chapter 12, is a thing. Starting here in Romans 12:9, and running through the rest of the chapter, Paul gives us a bullet list of characteristics that should define the lifestyle of a follower of Jesus. All told, there are 25 commands here. Let’s start walking through them, one at a time.

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