Do not be wise in your own estimation.

Romans 12:16c

This is such a thoughtful phrase. If you have spent much time with me in conversation, at some point you have more than likely heard me say something about the story playing in my head. We all have a story playing in our heads. It is the story of how we see ourselves, how we think others see us, and what we think others think of us, and often the story is incorrect. The reason for this is that our stories are built on our assumptions, and we are the editors of our assumptions. By the way, it is all but impossible to be a good editor of your own stuff. Why? Because you have a bias toward yourself, you think every thought you have is right. It is not, sorry. So then the question becomes, how do I get to the place where I have the proper story playing in my head? I believe that the only way this is possible is if I get to the place where I see myself as God sees me. Let me give you a few of the ways he sees you if you are a Christ follower. He sees you as his beloved child (1 John 3:1), forgiven (Acts 10:43), saved (Acts 2:21), one who has hope (Hebrews 10:23), and a joint heir with Christ (Romans 8:17). Those are just a few of the ways God describes us as one of His own. Knowing who God is making me to be makes me realize that without Him working in me, I am nothing. I then began to see my value and ability according to what God wants to do in me. If I am attached to him, I will be wise in my understanding of myself. Jesus said the same thing this way, “I am the vine, and you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.” John 15:5

-Pastor Tim

Do not be proud; instead, associate with the humble.

Romans 12: 16b

When I think about the verse we just read, the word that immediately comes to my mind is “gracious.” To be gracious means to be “courteous, kind, and pleasant.” It is impossible to be courteous, kind, and pleasant with people and be proud at the same time. In order to be gracious, we have to have a proper understanding of who we are. You see, pride often comes from a desire we have for people to see us as more than we really are. Pride most often is wrapped up in insecurity; pride is the masking mechanism used to hide deep-seated fears. Pride keeps me from being open and allowing people to get close to me. So Paul in this verse just makes it simple. Get over yourself, just don’t be proud, let your guard down, let people get close, and stop hiding. In order to live that way, without pride, find some people who are humble and godly and get close to them. Spend time with them, live life with them, let them speak into your life, let them correct you, encourage and challenge you. Be present with them. Be known to them and identify with them.

By the way, this is counter culture. This is counter to human nature. This will not come naturally to you or me. To live this way, we must allow the Holy Spirit free rule in us. We must be willing to yield ourselves to being molded into the image of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Tim

Live in harmony with one another.

Romans 12:16a

Harmony - agreement, unity in right relationship. When I read this little phrase by Paul, I immediately think, how? I mean, is that even possible? How do you get along with people who look at life differently from you? We are living in a time when people are majoring in minors. Let me explain what I mean. People seem to believe that what they believe about government, environment, animals, what type of energy we use, and our health care should determine whether or not we can be friends. In reality, all of those topics are just our preferences. In the light of eternity, they don’t affect our standing before God. I am not saying we shouldn’t care about those things, or that we shouldn’t be informed about them. What I am saying is that it is our personal relationship with God and our concern for others' relationship with God that should be our main focus, and we should be in harmony over that fact. All of those other concerns should not distract us or make us at odds with other believers. Someone has said it this way: “Keep the main thing the main thing,” the “main thing” being a person, God. So how do we live in harmony with each other? We live in harmony with God! The only way to care for, love, and show respect for people who don’t see the world the way we do is with the heart and love of God.

Are you in harmony with God, and as a result, others?

Pastor Tim

Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.

Romans 12:15

I really like this thought. It takes a lot of pressure off me. I know that sounds a bit strange. But it’s true. I don’t know about you, but I struggle sometimes to know how I should care for and show up for people. Are they looking for something deep and profound? Do they want me to have the answer or solution to what they are facing? What if I have never faced what they are facing? What if I don’t even understand what they are going through? Should I just stay away? Paul makes it simple. Are you ready for this? If people are happy, be happy with them. Show up and wholeheartedly celebrate what is making them full of joy; let go and enjoy just smiling with them. Then, when you show up, and they are crushed and in tears, allow yourself the pleasure of entering into their pain with them. I am not saying to own their pain; you can’t. But you can be sad, you can be a listening ear and a soft shoulder. All Paul is really telling us to do is to be present with people. In a day of electronics, to-do lists, and endless distractions, the simple ask Paul is making is the hardest thing for us to do. Be present.

Are you present with the people God has placed around you?

Pastor Tim

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

Romans 12:14

Now Paul has lost it. I mean, if he had said, “Bless those that bless you,” that would make sense. It is the right and easy thing to do. But Paul tells us to bless those who are against us and desire to harm us. By the way, this reaction is proof of the indwelling Holy Spirit who lives in us. Remember way back at the beginning of Chapter 12 when Paul told us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice? This is part of that. Paul knows that the best way to show others who Jesus is is to be just like Jesus. That means we don’t need to defend our position or prove we are right; we simply need to be the best replica of Jesus we can be. We are to be a picture and expression of His grace and mercy. Proverbs 25:21 says it this way: “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.” Bless him. What if we made a decision this week to counter every struggle with people by flooding them with overwhelming kindness? What if, instead of being sarcastic and critical, we gushed with genuine love and concern for them? What do you think would happen?

Pastor Tim

Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality.

Romans 12:13

This thought from Paul fits so well with his reminder to us about our gifts and the use of them. Remember, earlier Paul told us we have been given gifts from God (vs 4-8) and we are to use them for God. Now Paul gets to the practical part of using them. If you were questioning who to serve or when to serve, here you go. Look for saints with needs and help them. Now, let me pause for a moment and have a little side conversation with you. There are those with real needs and those with wants or needs because of bad decisions. This raises the question, how can I know who to help? Remember last week when we talked about prayer and being persistent in it? This is one of those places where conversations with God will bring clarity about who really needs help. I believe that if we are talking to and listening to God, He will make us aware by his Spirit of Christ followers who have needs. I also believe He will let us know how best we can help them.

The end of this thought is to be friendly and make people feel welcome. That is hospitality. Not just one time: chase after making people feel like they belong. If all of us here at MBC chased after making people welcome, a third service on Saturday night would not be enough; we would need to figure out a fourth service and maybe a fifth. Now wouldn’t that be something?

Pastor Tim

Be persistent in prayer.

Romans 12:12b

Prayer--our ongoing conversation with God. If we were to spend a little time looking through the Bible, we would find that prayer has multiple elements. One way that those different elements of prayer are explained is with the acronym ACTS. A- adoration, C- confession, T- thanksgiving, and S- supplication. These four words give us a picture of how we can be persistent in prayer. As we come to God to have a conversation with Him, we start by expressing to God our deep love and respect for who he is. We worship him as the King he is. Then we move into a time of admitting who we are. In order to do that, we need to confess our selfish pride and agree with God about our sin issues. (By the way, He already knows, so just admit the sin struggle.) Next, we should spend some focused attention on all that God has done for us. He constantly provides in physical and non-physical ways. Right now it is 5 degrees outside, and I am sitting and working in a nice warm office; believe me, I am thankful. I need to tell God! I just did. That is only one of a thousand things to be thankful for just today. Last, we need to spend some time in supplication. Supplication is a word not used much; it means to ask earnestly, humbly for something, such as a personal need or the needs of others. It has the posture of dependence and trust in God. So this is when we come before God with the things that are too big for us to handle and ask for His help, whatever that may be.

Paul reminds us to be persistent as we pray, so prayer is not a once-in-a-while thing, but a consistent habit.

How persistent in prayer are you? I know I could be more persistent in my prayer time!

Pastor Tim

“Be fervent in the Spirit, serve the Lord.”

Romans 12:11b

Last week, we talked about putting all of our effort into serving God, being all in, and pursuing Him with everything we have.

The phrase we are looking at this morning is be fervent in the Spirit. The word fervent means: displaying a passionate intensity. Paul is telling us that the use of our gifts is not a private matter. It is an intensely public issue. How do I know that? If you’re truly passionate about something, it shines through; people can always tell. Think about the things you care about most, then ask yourself how often those topics come up when you talk to people. Most of the time, the people close to us know the conversations we will want to have with them before we show up. If they don’t, I would say you are not really passionate about anything, and that is not good. So, back to the phrase. We are called to be publicly passionate about what the Spirit is doing in and through us, and with that passion, to truly “serve the Lord.” The phrase “serve the Lord” is important. It’s all too easy to get passionate about something and end up serving ourselves instead. That happens every day. Paul says we are to be so connected to the Spirit that our desire is not for ourselves but for God. Our actions of service will prove our desire.

Are your actions proving your desire to serve God? Or do they show your desire to serve self?

Pastor Tim

“Do not lack diligence in zeal;”

Romans 12:11a

Last week I spent two days thinking about this phrase, and it was kind of convicting! I know what you are thinking. How can a phrase like this be convicting? Thanks for asking. Because you asked, I will explain. First of all, it is kind of strange wording. Think about it with me: “do not lack diligence”—the word diligent means to put energetic effort into something. So, Paul tells us to put all of our energy into zeal. What? Well, zeal means putting uncompromising effort into one’s beliefs. Remember, these verses are describing how we use our gifts for God. Paul is basically telling us to put everything we have into serving God. Nothing held back, all in, all the energy we have, all of our thought process, every part of us completely sold out to God's purpose.

It is so easy to become lazy with my beliefs and my desire to serve God. It is easy to take on the attitude that it doesn’t matter how engaged I am with God or how deeply I allow God to affect my life and my daily choices. The next thing we know, complacency slips in, and we find ourselves compromising in small areas, which will begin to affect larger parts of our lives.

That is why Paul is super clear about being diligent. How diligent are you being as you serve God?

Pastor Tim

“Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another.”

Romans 12:10

As we looked at verse 9 a few weeks ago we saw we were told to “let love be without hypocrisy.” The word used for love in verse 9 is the word agape - which means unconditional or God-like love. The word love used in verse 10 is the word phileo, which means family-like devotion and affection. Remember these two verses, 9 and 10, are describing how we use our gifts. So, Paul is saying we serve others with God-like love, unconditionally, not because they deserve it but because of God in us. Then we are to serve them with family love because we are children of God living as members of the same family. What I find interesting about this verse is Paul does not leave it at just showing love to each other. He takes it the next step and tells us to be the first to honor others. The word used for honor here means value; we are responsible to show those we live life with their value to us and to the body of Christ. All of us are valuable and add value to the church, and we often forget that about ourselves and others.

When was the last time you showed loved to a brother or sister in Christ by reminding them of the value they add to the body? If it has been a while, today would be a good time to do it again.

Pastor Tim

“Detest evil, cling to what is good.”

Romans 12:9b

Detest: strongly dislike, hate

What do you hate? What are you allowed to hate? Is there anything God wants you to hate? Let's just be super clear, God detests (hates) sin. Why? He is a holy God who cannot allow sin in His presence; that is determined by his character. He also detests sin because of its effect on us. Sin separates us from the relationship with him that he created us for, and he hates that.

So, how do we combat evil? How do we come to hate evil? Thankfully, God through Paul gives us the how: “cling to what is good.” In order to cling to what is good, we have to know what is good. How do I know what is good?

I believe the only way to know what is good is to know truth. The only way to know truth is to spend time with the one who is truth, God. We do that by spending time in the Word of God. As the truth seeps into our hearts and we begin to live it out, we will naturally detest all that is evil. Truth and evil cannot live in the same space. The more truth (God) we fill our hearts and minds with, the less room there is for evil to take root and live in us. The truth (God) will push out the evil that wants to control and own us.

Do you detest evil? Maybe better put, do you love truth? Cling to what is good!

Pastor Tim

Let love be without hypocrisy.

Romans 12:9a

Let's remember the verses we just read last week about using our gifts. Remember, “ Just use them.” This verse speaks to the attitude we need to have as we use them. The first motivation is “love.” What does Paul mean by that? The word love used in this verse is the word agape--which is a sacrificial and selfless love, not an emotional love. It is based on action and choice, not reciprocated because of a previous action by someone else. So the motivation for using the gift God gave us is because we love Him and we love those who need to be ministered to. The second part of the phrase says “without hypocrisy.” The word hypocrisy means to claim a moral standing or belief that you do not practice. Paul is telling us to be sure that we not only say we love people but that we are walking out that love for people, that as we use our gifts, we are not using them to be seen by others and applauded for our gifts, but to simply care for others with the love of Christ because we care. Basically, Paul is telling us to keep our interactions with others simple; just love them.

How well do you think you love others? Can they tell?

Pastor Tim

If prophecy, use it according to the proportion of one’s faith; if service, use it in service; if teaching, in teaching; if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness.

Rom12:6b-8

First of all, be aware that the list of gifts given here is not complete. This is just a sample of the gifts, and the point of the list given is not to explain the gifts. The point of these few verses is really found in the action that is commanded. Notice that Paul is not making a suggestion that we might want to use our gifts. These verses are basically telling us that as followers of Jesus, we have a gift and we should discover it. Then once it is discovered, we are to use it. Each gift is stated, and then Paul simply says, “Do it.” Don’t overthink it, don’t ask permission, don’t second-guess it, just do it. I think that is a real problem for most people. It is too simple. You may be thinking I am crazy to make that statement, but think about it for a moment. How many simple things do you know you should do each day or on a regular basis, and yet you don’t do them? I don’t have to list them; you already have a list going in your mind. I have a list in my mind. Paul knows this about us, because Paul was no different than us; he struggled to do the right things. If you wonder about that, just look at his words in Romans 7.

Did you notice how Paul ended verse 8? With cheerfulness. It isn’t enough to just use our gifts; we must do it with a cheerful disposition. Why? Because the use of our gift brings glory to God and points others to God. The use of our gift is for God's good, not ours.

Pastor Tim

According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts:

Romans 12:6a

First off, let's notice that the gifts are just that, they are gifts. They are not something we deserve or something we have earned. They are not in us because of some skill we have mastered or because of years of study. The gifts we have come as an act of grace (giving us something we do not deserve) from God's loving hand. They are given to us on purpose for a purpose. God never does anything without intention. As we will find out in the next few phrases, we are expected to use our gifts for God's kingdom and His glory. We are never given an ability or gift that we just allow to sit and not be used. The next thought we are given here is that we all as individual Christ followers have different gifts. Paul just said this to us in the previous verse, but repeating truths makes them stick. It is so important to be reminded that we are all different as Christ followers. We come from different backgrounds, different families, different forms of education, different ways of thinking, and different perspectives on the world. God adds a gift to that mix called “life” and tells us all to use it for Him and His glory. We are to celebrate those differences and lean in to them to build the church, together.

Pastor Tim

“In the same way we who are many are one body in Christ,”

Romans 12:5a

Last week, we chatted about how amazing our bodies are when all of the members do the part they were designed to do. The body of Christ, the Church, is equally amazing. All of those who have become Christ followers make up the body called the church. Now, a thought that always grabs my attention is how Christ followers judge each other because of their differences. When other believers do something or view things differently than I do, my tendency is to question or make a judgment about their heart or motive, instead of seeing the value in their difference. Paul is being super clear that all of the members should be different. We are unified by our faith in Jesus Christ as our only way to God. One God, one Father, one hope in our calling, but different in our gifting and abilities. As our bodies have one head that controls us, so Christ is the head of the church, and He controls His church. But it is the differences of the body that make it strong. When those different gifts and abilities are given the freedom to do what they are good at, then the body (church) will do amazing things for the glory of God.

Take a minute today and identify some other believers who function differently than you, pray for them and encourage them. Celebrate the fact that God has made them the way they are.

Pastor Tim