Romans 12

Romans 12:1-2 (NIV84)

"1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.

2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. "

This blog is probably going to be a bit longer because this is my favorite chapter in Romans.

Paul is saying that everything we do should be done with God in mind.  Since Jesus was merciful enough to give his life for us, it's only right that we would give ours back to him.

Verse 2 is one of my favorites.  A lot of times I get so get caught up in American-Christian culture that I forget why I'm doing it.  On Sunday's it's the same routine:  Go to church, sing songs, eat lunch.  I get so stuck in the routine of ministry that I forget why I'm serving in the first place.

I guess the biggest thing here is that we should be just as focused on God during our everyday activities as we are when we are doing things for Him.

I love the way The Message translation puts these two verses

Romans 12:1-2 (MSG)

"1 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life-your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life-and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.2 Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."

"Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking."

I think I'm going to have to work on this for a long time.

Romans 12:3-8 (NIV84)

" For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach;

8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. "

Basically we can't do it alone.  I love the leaders in Under1.  We all have different strengths and weaknesses.  We all have different roles and tasks used to advance the Kingdom of God.

But I think these verses go beyond the local church setting.  I believe that as the body of Christ we need to work together.  I think churches themselves play different roles in God's plan.

Romans 12:9-21 (NIV84)

"9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”says the Lord.

20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."


We should sincerely love one another.  Not because we have to but because the Holy Spirit has given us a love for people.

I love verse 16 "Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position."
We shouldn't be so concerned about our reputation that we stop loving the unloving.

It's easy to love our friends and our families and even people at our church.  It's not as easy to love complete strangers, and it's even harder to love our enemies.

Probably the hardest thing for me to learn is that my enemies need Jesus too.

When I first got saved there was a volunteer in my youth group who I looked up to a lot.  He got caught up in some stuff and ended up causing some pretty significant damage to our youth group.

I was let down and offended.  I honestly hated him.  I literally wanted him to die.

I held on to this hatred for years, until I brought it before God.  God said this to me "No! You carry my righteousness now, you are my son and my children don't harbor hatred."

I had to let it go, I had to somehow forgive someone who the world would say was unforgivable.

Through a series of obvious acts of God I was actually able to talk to this guy again.  It wasn't a long conversation but it contained the words that cut through my heart.

"I'm sorry"

The next day at church we played a song that contained a chorus that was just the words "There must be more".  I kept thinking about his life and how much he was missing out.  I began to cry and I started to pray fervently for someone who was my enemy.

I'm looking forward to a day when we get to talk again, I wan't him to know there's so much more.

I've already planned to go to Unceasing after I get off work tomorrow and I think I'm going to spend some time praying for those people who I find hard to love.

Well, there was a bit more openness in this blog than I had intended, but I think it's a good thing.

Thanks for reading!
-JDWayt