Today we’ll continue with some of your favorites (or the passages you have questions about).  Email (andy@stm-umc.org) or message me with any passages you’d like added or that you have a question about!

Today we are looking at Romans 12: 9-13: 

9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not lag in zeal; be ardent in spirit; serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; pursue hospitality to strangers.

I love Romans 12. It’s such a practical chapter of a wonderful book.  It feels almost like Proverbs in that here is some good advice for how to live a good, Godly life.  Today we see this bit of wisdom. Act right. Life right. Be salt and light.  

Truly love, let it be genuine.  Love not just in words, but in action, in heart. 

Hate what is evil. I’ve heard it said; you can’t defeat the temptations you are flirting with.  Avoid evil, shun it, turn away from it.  

Outdo each other in showing honor. As Christians, if we are in a competition, its not to see who the best is or the holiest or the greatest. Our competition is in who will love the most, who will honor the most, who will be the most Christlike. 

Serve with joy, with passion, with zeal.  

Pray. 

Take care of the folks you know. Take care of the folks you don’t know.  

Y’all, if we did all of this, imagine the kind of world it would be. Imagine what it would be like if we did these things.  There’s a lot to it, it seems like a tall order.  Too much to do. That’s why we don’t do it by our strength. That’s why it is so important for us to focus first and foremost on our walk with God. That’s why we have to pray, read scripture, worship, be in the midst of the life of God.  I can’t do these things on my own. You can’t do them on your own. 

But Christ in you, the hope of glory, He can.  Plug into Him, plug into the source. And then He will guide you, and you will live out these things.  

Through His grace, we can be faithful.  Through His grace, we can live out the Gospel.  Through His grace we can act right.  

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