Take a deep breath. Ok, now take another one. One more.
Now you are ready to read this section of Scripture. Romans 12:9-21
Let love be
genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo
one another in showing honor. 11 Do
not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be
patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek
to show hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do
not curse them. 15 Rejoice
with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be
haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil
for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far
as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it
to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says
the Lord.” 20 To the
contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him
something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome
by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Breathe again. That was thirty imperatives in twelve
sentences. That is a lot! How in the world does a child of God read
something like that and still live by and grow by grace?
Well, there are a couple of
ways. First, in Romans 15, Paul tells us
that he spoke to us in several areas as a way of reminder. These exhortations are not commands but a
reminder from a guy who is also learning what it means to be a Christian. He is not commanding us, he is reminding us
who we are in Christ.
Secondly, and maybe more
importantly is this; there is no way I can perfectly do all of these
reminders. But there is someone who can
and who has, Jesus.
When I read this, I see Jesus
Christ manifested in the page. I see a
well rounded perspective of who Jesus was and what he was like. I see Jesus as he related to his disciples,
how to he treated evil, how he glorified his Father.
Let me take a few of these
reminders as an example:
Let love be genuine; There was
not a morsel of fake love in Jesus.
Outdo one another in showing honor; He gave his life for us, placing us as more important than himself, need I say more? I will. He stripped to his under garments to wash his disciples’ feet to show them what it means to serve and show honor.
Be patient in tribulation; Patience is what kept him on that cross.
Bless those that persecute you; Offering those who are crucifying you eternal life if they repent of their ways seems like a wonderful blessing.
How do we live by the grace that
we were saved by and grow by day by day?
Well, we have to see Jesus’
immeasurable love for us first by seeing
that he has perfectly upheld all of these exhortations. Then we realize that it is Jesus who lives in
us and through us (Galatians 2:20), which enables us to do any of these things.
