Romans 12 Challenge - Week 2 - Verses 11-12

July 28 - August 3

Romans 12:11-12

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.     

 Take the Romans 12 Challenge!

• Memorize the weekly verse(s)
• Pray the prayer every morning/evening
• Print the reminder card, post it somewhere visible, take it with you
• Every time you see the "12" of the Seahawks' 12th man flag, think about applying these thoughts to your life.
• Post a comment to this blog to share how God is transforming you for good!



save, copy, print as an ever-present reminder

Think about it

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.  The term "lacking in zeal" could be simply translated as "lazy."  In Greek, "fervor" means "to boil or bubble."  Don't be lazy, but boil with spiritual energy.  Our being spiritually pumped up is for a purpose: not self, but service.  How are we serving the Lord today?

Be joyful in hope.  Unshakable joy.  Remember how important the absolute reality of God's promised future is to Paul's presentation of the gospel in Romans.  Our hope in what God will do can bring us joy in our lives today...and give us eyes to see what God is doing right now.

Be patient in affliction.  Affliction speaks of pain, misery, and grief.  Problems get worse when pain causes us to panic.  Patience gives us perspective.  Consider Romans 5:3-4..."We glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope."

Be faithful in prayer.  Prayer makes all this possible.  To be faithful in prayer means to hold tightly to it, to be a persistent pray-er.  It is in prayer that the Holy Spirit connects us to God.  Feel too tired and worn out to pray?  Remember that the Holy Spirit is already praying for us in our weakness...see Romans 8:26-27.

 

Pray about it

God, when I’m tempted to be lazy in loving others, give me a shot of spiritual adrenaline that revs up my servant heart.  Fill me with hope that makes joy overflow.  When I’m under pressure, grant me patience.  Empower me to persist in prayer. Amen.

Apply it

This week's focus reminds us how important our inner spiritual life is to the way we live outwardly in our relationships with others.  We're called to be spiritually-energized servants who are joyful, hopeful, and patient even in difficult circumstances.  That's a lot to ask for...is it even possible?  Prayer makes it possible.  Focus on your prayer life this week.  Start by deciding on a particular time each day to pray the simple prayer I've put together.  Pray it again and again as the week goes on.  What changes might make you more energetic in your exercise of prayer?

 



Reminder Card for Black & White Printing



 

Click the "comments" link below to post your insights and reflections...

Week 1 - Applying Romans 12:9-10




Save or copy this image, then print as a reminder ... or set it as your desktop background

July 21-28

Romans 12:9-10

⁹ Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.                                               

 

Take the Romans 12 Challenge!

• Memorize the weekly verse(s)
• Print the picture as a reminder card/bookmark/poster
• Every time you see the "12" of the Seahawks' 12th man flag, think about applying these thoughts to your life.
• Post a comment to this blog to share how God is transforming you for good.
  

Think about it

Love must be sincere.  In Greek, "sincere" is literally “without hypocrisy.” Hypocrite is the word for stage actor in Greek drama, in which actors switch between different roles, each with a different mask.  Loving others isn’t just for show; more than a role we’re playing, it demands authenticity. Take the mask off and be real.

Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.  The harshest word for evil in Greek is used here, the only occurrence in Romans.  The sense of “cling” is a connection so firm you’re glued to it, the same word used to define the one-ness of husband and wife in Matthew 19:5 & Ephesians 5:31.  Good is associated with God’s will in verse 2 of Romans 12.

Be devoted to one another in love.  In Greek, both Philadelphia (brotherly love) and philostorgos (devotion, of parent for children) are used here.

Honor one another above yourselves.  To honor means to give respect; compare this thought to Philippians 2:3.

 

Pray about it

Lord, help me to sincerely love the people in my life, devoting myself to their well-being.  In my actions give me the strength to cling to what is good, avoiding evil.  Embraced by your grace, make me eager to honor others as your good creation.

 

Apply it

Paul encourages us to love one another with familial love.  What better place to start applying Romans 12 to life than our family relationships.  Take a survey of your family relationships, and identify how you’re doing in loving them with Christ-like love.  Then apply some love where it’s needed.  Know that God's Holy Spirit will be with you providing you with the love you need!



This is a black & white version for single-color printing

Post your comments below...share your experience of transformation!

Downshift Self, Accelerate Giving

Transformed for Good

Step 2 - Giving

http://www.northcreekpres.org/#/home/sermons

 

 

It’s all about giving:

As we give up an inflated self, and

Gauge what God has graciously given, and

Give generously our God-given gifts,

We experience transformation for good.

As we apply Romans 12:3-8 to our lives, we'll be...

1. Downshifting our focus on ourselves so that we can appreciate the needs and gifts of others.

From verse 3:
“Do not think of yourself more highly” = hyperphronein (superiority complex, conceited, arrogant…thinking yourself better).

"But think of yourself with sober judgment” = sophronien (reasonable, sensible, of sound mind; not thinking too lowly or highly, but a balanced assessment of strengths & weaknesses).

• What's your experience of hyperphronien (thinking too highly of yourself)?  What thoughts, worries, or circumstances tempt you to pump air into an over-inflated ego?

• How might you practice more sophronein (sober thinking about self)?  How might appreciating others' gifts help you to do this?

2. Accelerating into giving to others the gift God has given us through His grace.
("Give some gas to your gift")


The Seven Gifts:

• Prophesying (offering guidance from God's word for the church in particular circumstances)
• Serving (diakonia, from which we get the word "Deacon," literally meaning "to wait on tables")
• Teaching (deepens others' knowledge of the faith)
• Encouraging (exhortation, literally someone who comes alongside someone to help them)
• Giving (think comprehensive: time, talent, treasure)
• Leading (governing, doing what is best for the community, its preservation and advancement)
• Showing mercy (compassionate, helpfully responding to needs, hurts, suffering)

Of the 7 gifts listed in verses 6-8, which do you think might be your top 2?





Grace (charis) and gifts (charisma) are linked linguistically in Greek.  God's gifts are practical expressions of God's grace...others encounter God's grace through our generous giving of the gift God has given us to give.

How might you put your gift into practice in your family or church/work group?  What is the difference between expressing your gift grace-fully and expressing it grace-lessly?

Transformed for Good - Applying Romans 12 to Life

Living Life
God's Way

Ethics of a Life Transformed by Christ

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Focusing on one chapter of the Bible during the entire summer gives us the opportunity to really think about what we're doing - and to learn from our mistakes!

 

Each week there will be a brief blog post to get your thinking started.  Then you just focus on living out those words in the midst of your relationships - while working, camping, golfing, shopping, swimming, ... You get the picture.

 

Because of the popularity of the number 12 in the Seattle area, because of the "12th Man" fan base of the Seattle Seahawks football team, we've made a shameless connection to the 12th Man flag.  As the Seahawks begin training camp, we'll be training in practical Christian ethics...and improving our relationships with others.

 

 

The Process

Each Monday during the summer I'll post a "Transformed for Good" weekly thought for a renewed mind on this blog.

July 14 
Focus on the theme of giving in Romans 12:3-8
 

(For the remainder of the summer, we'll focus on bite-size pieces of Paul's practical words of guidance in verses 9-21)

July 21
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. (Verses 9-10)

July 28

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  (Verses 11-12)

August 4

Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.  (Verse 13)

August 11

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another.  (Verses 14-16a)

August 18

Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. (Verse 16b)

August 25

Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (Verses 17b-18)

September 1

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Verses 17a, 19-21)

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Sermon 1 of 3

Transformed for Good. Part 1: Renewing
http://northcreekpres.org/#/home/sermons

Romans 12:1-2

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.  Do not conform 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.

Can we really live God's way in the real world?  It takes a foundational mind shift, made possible by what God has already done in Christ.

The key to our transformation is the renewing of our minds as an act of worship, dedicating both our minds and the body moved by our minds to God.  In the process our minds focus more and more on God's mercy.  God's mercy is what Paul has been teaching about in Romans 1-11, about the new life given to us in Jesus Christ. 

As an exercise in renewing your mind in view of God's mercy, read Romans 6, and consider the connections to Romans 12:1-2.

Christian ethics amounts to living the change that Jesus makes.  It's something only Jesus can empower, but we can count on that power to enable our acts of cooperation as we dedicate ourselves to God's purposes, oftentimes in contrast to the world around us.