Romans 12

Romans 12

1Therefore, 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. 2Do 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.
3For 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. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We 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. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if 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.
Love 9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.Do not be conceited.
17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do 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. 20On 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."21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

I have been reading in Romans the past week or so and I have really been enjoying my study! I have had a great week and this one seems to be getting better. I was reading in Chapter 12 and I have several Bibles out and I enjoyed the study so much that i though i would share a lil with you.If you agree, disagree, or have thoughts to add to this i encourage you to share them with me...

so in verse 1 and 2 its talking about Gods will for our life. In these verses He gives us two commands.... do not conform to the world and be transformed! I know that as a Christians in today's world we seem to rate sin... some sin in our eyes is worse than others but in Gods eyes SIN is SIN. So we must transform ourselves... I use to drink and party, gossip and lie, be mean and i could go on and on... but when i rededicate my life for Christ i knew i couldn't drink and party but i continued to Gossip ... now why is that... its says to be transformed so i must get rid of all sin in my life... we will fall short daily but we must try to transform ourselves and strive to be better and not continue on wiht the way we use to be. So take a deep look at yourself... what is still in your life that is holding you back from the fullness of What God has for you.

verses 4 -8 shows us that different people are called to do different things under the direction of God and we must work together to glorify Him. We must realize our gifts come from God, understand we all have different gifts, know who we are and what we do best, use these gifts for God's glory and not our own, be willing to utilize these gifts and not hold back! Once we discover our gift and begin to seek God's wil for our life things will begin to happen. We will see God work through us and our gift and we will be able to share God's word to this world. We cant waste time worry about what others gifts are and wondering why we cant do that because God has given us each a gift and if we ALL work together we will begin to see great things happen! What is your gift.. I think because so many people want to be told what to do or want to do what others are doing they miss out on what God is calling them to do. I realized my calling and once i did a peace was in my heart and I began to seek God's guidance to use that calling to do His work. Its amazing when we begin to do what God is wanting us to do how things begin to just fall into place.

verses 9 -21 is talking about God's love. I think a lot of times we don't love completely like God is asking us to do in these verses. It is hard to love. We have to look beyond our wants and needs and see the needs of others. It may take time, money, and effort to love the people in need. We need to pray we see these needs of others and love them enough to help them no matter what their need is. Why don't we love enough to stop and see the needs of others... we take time to see the bad in them. No matter who the person is in your life or community we must love them good or bad... evil or not... young or old...rich or poor.... healthy or sick!!! we must love them as Christ loves us. That is unconditionally! I experience this to the fullness this week. I was personally attacked with words from a good friend. I was hurt buy her words and the way she approached me but i wasn't mad at her and alls i could think about is how much i loved her and wanted to see beyond our talk and love her. I know there are things in her life right now and i just want to show her love. Im seeking God to show me how to show her love. I do not want to be angry with her i want to show her love. This is a big step for me personally I usually would have responded differently but as God works through me im able to show her love.