Category: Today’s Truth

Have you ever had a difficult time loving someone who wronged you? Forget loving, do you have a hard time even liking them? What about someone who tore you down and persecuted you? That can be even harder to forgive. Pain and bitterness prevent us from being able to move on and really love like Jesus loves. Romans 12:14 says, “Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them.”

When I was young there was this girl who made it very hard to be positive. She would say hateful things and treat me like I was nothing. There were many days I would go home very discouraged and cry. Instead of harbouring bitterness, I decided to start praying for this girl every night. I started to notice my attitude toward her change. I would smile and not allow her comments to affect me. What surprised me was that she started being nice and treating me with respect. We developed an understanding and while we weren’t friends, I began to see her the way God created her: in His image. I prayed that God would bless her and I experienced a blessing myself. I got to see God work in my life and hers.

When you pray for God to do a work in someone’s life, He will do amazing things. He will bless you and you will get to be a part of what He is doing.

In this world we have to work to survive. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, part of the curse was that they would have to work the ground. So since then, man has been working the ground. That looks different today, but the outcome is still the same: working to survive.

The Bible says “Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically” in Romans 12:11. We may have to work to survive, but we can do it enthusiastically as if working for the Lord. Everyday that we go to work, we can serve God with gladness and joy in our hearts. Working is an opportunity to show the love of Christ and minister to those in need. Everywhere you go you are a representative of Christ. You have a chance to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.”

God is the one who gives us our jobs. We should give Him thanks for all He has done and the many opportunities He gives us to praise His name.

How often do we pretend to be interested in someone else’s life. When we say, “How are you” we secretly hope that the person will respond with, “Good.” It feels awkward if they answer any other way. When we see people in the store, we walk down the opposite aisle to avoid them. The only people we truly love are the ones close to us. We put up walls and fail to trust others. Sometimes we struggle with loving others as Romans 12:9-10 states: “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.”

Don’t pretend to love others; really love them. When you say you are going to pray for someone, do it right then and there! How many times do we say we are going to pray for someone and then we never do? Show others you love them by really caring and investing in them. Hate what is wrong- hate the things you say or do that do not bring honor to the Lord. Hold tightly to righteousness. Cling to all that is good. Love your neighbors, your friends, your families, and even your enemies with genuine affection. Always take delight in honoring each other.

This is how you can truly love each other and show each other honor. We must love more than just the people who are easy to love or the people who are close to us. We can show the love of God to the world by being real.

One gift that Romans 12:8 specifically focuses on is being a leader. It states that “If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.” Paul says here to take the gift of being a leader very seriously. It is an important responsibility.

Being a leader like a pastor, teacher, or leader within the church is an essential position and vital to the church ministry. God has given some people the ability to lead. For the leader, it means leading with grace, courage, and knowledge. A leader must seek the wisdom of Christ. He must seek the Lord’s heart so he can better serve the people. He must be full of grace, extending mercy to those who don’t deserve it and forgiving others as an example for the people to follow. A leader must extend kindness to those around him so that others will also learn to be kind.

Being a leader is a big responsibility as this verse says. It is important for the congregation to support its leaders and lift them up daily in prayer. They will serve better if the body is continuously supporting and loving them.

God has given each believer a specific gift or talent- a way to serve Him. These talents all go together to better serve the kingdom in the body of Christ. Take a minute to think about the gifts God has given you. Think about other believers you know and the gifts he has given them. How do these gifts work together as part of the will of God?

Every gift given to believers has a purpose. Romans 12:6 says, “In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.” He has given gifts of prophecy, encouraging others, giving generously, leadership, and showing kindness. All of these gifts are so important in the church. We need people who are teachers and leaders. We also need encouragers and people who show kindness to lift up others. They work together to make the church a place for the broken and the sick.

The church is to be a beacon for the world to see. When the body of Christ works together and honors God with the way they live, act, and speak, they will draw others to join the body of Christ.

The body of Christ is made up of believers. Each believer has a part and a way to serve in the kingdom. The body functions together to serve the King, Jesus Christ, the head of the body. However, since we are people with a sinful nature, we fall and fail to work in unity sometimes. So how can we overcome our sinful natures and work together to better serve the Lord?

In order to serve together in unity, we must put others before ourselves. Romans 12:3 says, “Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.” Be humble and always measure your faith against yourself. Are you growing in Christ? Are you stronger in your faith today than you were yesterday? Verses 4-5 go on to say, “Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.” Each part of the body belongs to the body itself and each other. There can be unity within the body because we belong together.

We can serve together in unity when we put others before ourselves and really learn to accept each other. Every believer has been given specific gifts to better help the body of Christ. We all fit together so we can be a part of the will of God.

Everything begins in the mind. Just a thought can determine your entire day. A thought can make you spiral into something that is hard to control. A thought often leads to a word, which can then lead to an action, and can turn into a lifestyle. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.” A thought can be a dangerous thing when left alone. This verse says to take every thought captive. If our thoughts are going to lead to actions and ultimately lifestyles, then we must purify our minds so we can live a life that honors Christ.

We can honor Christ with the way we think. If we train our minds, we will find that it is easier to capture every thought. The first thing we have to do as Christians is to live differently from the world. We have to make sure we are not copying the world as Romans 12:2 says. “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” The next thing we have to do is allow God to transform us. Think about the things of God as Philippians 4:8 tells us. When we think about the things of God we allow ourselves to be transformed into the person He wants us to be.

Ask Him to help you take your thoughts captive and transform your heart and mind. He can do miraculous things in your life if you allow Him to take control.

What is worship to you? Is it the songs that you sing every week at church? Is it the type of songs you sing- contemporary or traditional? People can get caught up in the type of worship rather than who we are worshipping. This very debate can cause disagreements and divisions in the church. As Christians, we must not allow these arguments disrupt us from true, authentic worship.

Worship is so much more than anything you sing or say. Romans 12:1 states, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.” Worship is about the Father, not about us. It is what we bring to God. We can sing with the most beautiful voice but worship will be empty if the heart is not into it. We can have all of the talent in the world, but the talent will be worth nothing if it is not used to worship the King!

Worship is all about sacrifice and what you have to offer God. He has called us to be a living sacrifice, to live everyday offering ourselves to the Lord. He wants more from us than just a Sunday morning experience. He wants all of us.

Love is the greatest attribute of all. Love is what heals after years of hurt. Love brings opposite sides together. Love looks for the good in people. 1 Corinthians 13:13 proclaims love as being the greatest (Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love). Faith is important as there is no relationship with Christ if there is no faith. Hope is what drives the Christian and helps them persevere. But love binds everything together in perfect unity (Colossians 3:14).

Faith, hope, and love are the attributes Christians should always pursue. However, why is love so great? Love heals. When relationships are broken and seem beyond repair, love can heal and bring people back together. Love restores. When things seem broken, love can repair and make new. Love lasts. When years go by and everything else fades away, love is unending. Love can change hearts, ease pain, renew faith, and bring hope to the hopeless. Hope kept the prodigal son’s father going all of those years. Faith strengthened his heart. But love gave him the ability to offer grace and forgiveness to his son. We see many other examples of this throughout the Bible.

God’s love is the greatest of all other attributes. Without love, we wouldn’t know hope, we wouldn’t have a strong faith, and our relationship with God would be based on nothing at all.

In this life we only see in part and know in part. Take a picture for instance. You can try and capture a beautiful sunset or scenic mountains; however, you can never fully capture them. You can only see part of them in a picture no matter how hard you try to capture the entire scene. We have even created panoramic view to try and capture more of it, but no matter how hard we try, we can never fully capture the beauty of God’s creation.

As humans, we only know in part. We can not see one second, one hour, one day, one week in front of us. We can only see this moment. God is not like us. He sees all. He knows what came before us. He knows what comes after us. He is the one who knows fully and can see everything. He sees the entire picture when we only see part. He knows everything, while we only know in part. This is why God is trustworthy. He knows every hair on our heads and every thought we think as it says in Psalm 139. He created us in the inmost parts, in our mothers wombs. So why is it so hard for us to trust Him still? We trust people when they know nothing about us. Maybe we are afraid of what would happen if we allowed ourselves to truly bask in His fullness. Maybe some of us are still doubtful of what we can not see.

Look at the trees, the sunsets, and the hills. Every part of Creation radiates who He is and His fullness. He knows all of creation. He knows it fully. He knows every person because they are created in His image. For that He is completely trustworthy.