The American Bible Society: Encounter with God HEART TURNED OUTWARD Lord, I give You my full attention. Today, may I have a right mind and walk in the right path. ROMANS 12:9-21 - Contemporary English version Vs. 9-13: Be sincere in your love for others. Hate everything that is evil and hold tight to everything that is good. Love each other as brothers and sisters and honor others more then you do yourself. Never give up. Eagerly follow the Holy Spirit and serve the Lord. Let your hope make you glad. Be patient in time of trouble and never stop praying. Take care of Gods needy people and welcome strangers into your name. Vs. 14-18: Ask God to bless everyone who mistreats you. Ask him to bless them and not curse them. When others are happy, be happy with them, and when they are sad, be sad. Be friendly with everyone. Dont be proud and feel that you are smarter than others. Make friends with ordinary people. Dont mistreat someone who has mistreated you. But try to earn the respect of others, and do your best to live at peace with everyone. Vs. 19: Dear friends, dont try to get even. Let God take revenge. In the Scriptures the Lord says, I am the one to take revenge and pay them back. Vs. 20: The Scriptures also say, If your enemies are hungry, give them something to eat. And if they are thirsty, give them something to drink. This will be the same as piling burning coals on their heads. Vs. 21: Dont let evil defeat you, but defeat evil with good. CONSIDER: As we have received Gods blessing while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8), so we seek to bless those around us, regardless of how they respond. THINK FURTHER: Luther once described sin as cor curvum se, the heart turned in on itself. Now that we are free from the penalty of sin, and increasingly from the power of sin, Paul describes the practice of Christian living as having our hearts turned out to others, whether fellow believers or others in the world around us. Within the body of believers, this leads to lives marked by a transparent integrity. Love must not be hypocritical, the exact opposite of many peoples view of religion. We have a shared commitment to oppose anything that is evil, and our constant concern is to encourage and honor others. Since Gods love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, we are full of hope, and not blown off course by the momentary suffering that comes with following a suffering Messiah. Note that this community of mutual love is not turned in on itself but has porous boundaries and draws even strangers into its warm embrace. Paul then develops this outward focus, offering striking parallels with Jesus teaching, particularly in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Jesus announces his good news, rooted in the Jewish law, to rural Galileans, while Paul has explained his Gospel to a mixed Jewish-Gentiles audience in the great city of Rome. Yet they both end up in the same place. To bless our communities is now recognized as a vital mission strategy, but Paul was there before us! Just as god overcame the evil of our disobedience with the goodness of his patience, so we seek to overcome evil with good. We can trust God to be the just judge of all. APPLY: What are the things that test your patience, tempting your heart to turn on itself? Ask God for a fresh filling of His Spirit of hope and love. Father, as I reflect of this passage, the old adage comes to mind, Blessed to be a blessing. Firm up my will so thats true for me. Amen.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 14:22:09 +0000
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