Week 7 - Romans 12:9-21
Romans 12:9-21
Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!
Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.
Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.”
Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.
ACTIVE LOVE
For Paul, love is about what people do more than it is about how they feel. In fact, in the early church love was often connected directly to helping others in need rather than having warm feelings towards them. In the Christian experience we discover that when we love people through service, then to our surprise, love, care and concern for that person’s welfare quickly springs up. If we wait for a feeling or motivation to arise in our hearts, then way might never actually get around to doing anything at all.
Today’s reading finishes with an insight as to how we can live in the midst of our enemies and a charge to, “not let evil conquer us”. When we refuse to take revenge we are actually taking responsibility for our own emotional health. We are refusing to allow our future lives to be determined by the evil that someone else has done. This was written to Roman Christians that had enemies on every side, and as they “conquered evil by doing good,” it was a means of loving God, their enemy, and themselves.
QUESTIONS
As you read this passage, is your attention drawn more towards the things Paul is say “Don’t do...” or “Do...”? Which of these categories is most life giving and redemptive?
How have you dealt with your enemies in the past? In what ways can you “conquer evil by doing good”?