Category: Faith

Life Lessons from Romans 12:9-21

This Sunday Devotional follows on from my previous one and details important Christian life lessons from Romans 12:9-21.

The passage emphasizes the importance of sincere and authentic love. Believers are encouraged to love others genuinely, without any pretence or hidden motives. This love should be expressed through actions and should extend to both fellow believers and even those who may be considered enemies.

Believers are called to detest what is evil by refusing to participate in or condone anything that goes against God’s standards of righteousness and goodness.

Christians are encouraged to be devoted to one another in genuine love. This involves showing honour and respect to fellow believers, being hospitable, and actively caring for one another’s needs.

We should bless and not retaliate, instead of seeking revenge or responding in kind to those who do evil, believers are urged to bless them. This involves responding to hostility or mistreatment with acts of kindness and praying for their well-being.

We are to live in harmony with others. The passage emphasizes the importance of living in peace and harmony. Believers are encouraged to be humble, avoiding pride and arrogance, and seeking unity.

Supremely, we are challenged to overcome evil with good. Instead of being overwhelmed by evil, we are instructed to overcome evil with good. This means responding to evil deeds or intentions with acts of goodness, seeking to bring about positive change and transformation.

Overall, Romans 12:9-21 teaches the importance of living a life characterized by genuine love, rejecting evil, and actively pursuing peace and unity with others.

Christian Living (Romans 12:1-8)

Romans 12:1-8 (click the link to read) is a profound and transformative passage that offers invaluable guidance for Christian living. In these verses, the Apostle Paul addresses the believers in Rome, urging them to embrace a life of devotion, transformation, humility, unity, and service to the community of believers – but here is a message for all of us.

The passage begins with an earnest plea: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship.” Here, Paul implores believers to dedicate themselves entirely to God, not as lifeless offerings, but as living sacrifices. This act of devotion is portrayed as a response to God’s abundant mercy, representing a reasonable and spiritual form of worship.

Paul then instructs us not to be conformed to the patterns of the world, but to undergo a profound transformation by renewing our minds. This transformation is an integral aspect of Christian life, emphasizing the necessity of breaking free from the negative influences of the secular world and embracing God’s will and wisdom. It serves as a call to seek a deeper understanding of God’s purpose and to align our lives accordingly; accepting, including, and loving everyone with the very love of God.

Verse 3 underscores the importance of humility. Paul encourages us not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought, but to exercise sound judgment. This message promotes a posture of humility, acknowledging that all believers possess distinct gifts and roles within the body of Christ. By recognizing our individual limitations and strengths, we foster an environment of mutual respect and cooperation.

Verses 4-5 employ the metaphor of the body to illustrate the interconnectedness of believers. Just as a human body comprises many parts, each with its unique function, so does the Christian church. Each member possesses a distinctive role and spiritual gift, all indispensable for the proper functioning of the body. This vivid imagery underscores the need for unity within the Christian church community, where no member holds greater or lesser importance than another. The body metaphor highlights the interdependence of believers and encourages cooperation and support among them.

Paul continues by enumerating various spiritual gifts in verses 6-8, including prophecy, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leading, and showing mercy. These gifts are not granted for personal gain, but for the edification and strengthening of the body of Christ. Believers are encouraged to exercise their gifts faithfully and generously, recognizing that they are instruments through which God’s grace and love flow into the community.

These verses stand as a foundational and comprehensive passage outlining essential principles for Christian living. They call for wholehearted devotion to God, transformation through the renewal of the mind, humility in recognizing one’s role, unity within the Christian church community, and the responsible utilization of spiritual gifts. This passage serves as a guide for believers, promoting a life that not only glorifies God, but one that strengthens and enriches the Christian community, ultimately fulfilling the broader mission of the church in the world.

A Journey to Inclusion

There’s currently a lot of discussion about inclusion within my Christian faith community, as there is in many churches. Differing views are deeply felt and often strongly expressed.

After a journey of many years in Christian ministry, during which my understanding has deepened, I’ve arrived at the destination of supporting the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ people within all Christian churches.

This blog post is not an invitation to argue for or against my position, merely an opportunity for me to share my thoughts. This discussion can be conducted elsewhere.

I haven’t jumped onto a ‘fashionable’ bandwagon; seeking to score points, look good, or start an argument. For me, this a deeply human and faith conviction. All human beings need to be treated with respect. I’m simply seeking to be true to myself and God. Love and peace, John.

Speaking Generally

William Booth statue

I’m grateful to my friend Stephen Poxon (author and writer) for contributing this guest post about William Booth. You can find his books here.

William Booth: Founder of The Salvation Army, Christian evangelist, reformer, friend of royalty, champion of the marginalised, wit, entrepreneur, and master of the soundbite.

So far, so good, but we must remember that Booth was preaching his message and espousing his spiritual and moral philosophy before any of the advantages of modern communications technology could be exploited. His was an era of voice projection and oratory that went largely unaided except by, maybe, primitive devices for amplification.

All the more remarkable, therefore, is the fact that so many of William Booth’s quotations have survived into the present age. Granted, many were recorded by stenographers and biographers, but General Booth’s feat is still special, especially as much of his (prophetic?) wisdom retains a fresh touch.

Such as, for example, his utterance that there might come a time when the fires of scorching faith that burned within his bones would somehow become

“Religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, heaven without hell”.

Forgive the pun, but this is hot stuff; not for the faint-hearted (but then, faint-heartedness was a concept Booth never understood).

Was the old man right, though?

Take a look around. See for yourself a market-place swarming with pseudo-Christian philosophies (touchy-feely-feel-good mantras of consolation paraded in the name of some churches) and you might concede, he made a reasonable point! Denominations, I mean, that sometimes appear not to know their convictions from their desperate strivings to be ultra-relevant, and which, consequently (inevitably) dilute their ancient mandate to the point of it being nothing in particular and of little use to anyone.

And as for the penultimate utterance in Booth’s list of concerns, who can forget Alastair Campbell’s famous interruption of Tony Blair, reminding the then Prime Minister that “We don’t do God”?

How about this absolute corker:

“Don’t instil, or allow anybody else to instil into the hearts of your girls the idea that marriage is the chief end of life. If you do, don’t be surprised if they get engaged to the first empty, useless fool they come across.”

He wasn’t holding back, was he! Anyone voicing such opinions nowadays would be faced with any number of charges before they could say political correctness. Yet, allowing the dust to settle, we might just find ourselves agreeing with the outspoken warrior, albeit only grudgingly, on behalf of our children and grandchildren. Is it even possible we might only, eventually, accuse him of speaking downright common sense?

Try this one: “The greatness of the man’s power is the measure of his surrender”.

Notwithstanding the gender bias of the statement, how much does a contemporary age rail against notions of surrender, obedience, deference or conformity; in civil and legal matters, relationships, education, religion, societal structures, international political diplomacy, and the workplace (and so on)? Are we, can we honestly claim, the better for such prevailing tendencies and the tacit approval of creeping anarchy in the name of entitlement?

Read. Ponder. Agree. Disagree.