Romans is a hard book for a struggling Christian. It's a deep book of truths about God and salvation and how we are to live as Christians. Romans 12:9-21 are all about "Marks of the True Christian", as my Bible titles it. And it is stuff that is not easy to hear.
Verse 9 and 10 are all I'm going to cover today. "Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor." Why do I always fail? I don't love. In fact, people "joke" about my lack of love of others. I'm know as someone who hates things, is annoyed by people, and generally is negative most of the time. I'm not loving. This is so hard for me. I think I can read other people's genuine attitudes in a giving situation; and when others are not genuine or honest with me or a particular event, I get angry and frustrated with them. Or if someone is not paying enough attention to what's going on, when something serious happens and they are shocked, I'm annoyed they weren't prepared. I feel like people are usually not lovable.
BUT, God loves people. "For God so loved the world, He gave his only son..." John 3:16. Even the guy at the baseball game in the outfield, or the one in the end zone at the football game, is trying to tell people that the God of the universe loves people. And now we are called to love people too, right here in Romans.
Let me take this in a different direction. I love music. I love playing the piano and singing. I loved leading worship and First Baptist in Auburn. I loved everything about it. I would say, the job of a music pastor at a church would be my dream job. Except a huge part of being a pastor is loving people. And that love spreads to so many other aspects of the job. Just getting up on the stage and leading people in music worship is not the extent of the job. It takes genuine love.
Praise God Today by Loving Others.
No comments:
Post a Comment