Bible Study 3 - Romans 12

Romans 12
The Message –
Take your everyday life –
your sleeping, eating, going to work and walking around life
and place it before God as an offering.

Readily recognise what he wants from you and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity. God develops well – formed maturity in you.

If you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate.

Love from the centre of who you are; don’t fake it.

Don’t let evil get the best of you, get the best of evil by doing good. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness.

v1 God has good, pleasing and perfect plans for his children. He wants us to be transformed people with renewed minds living to honour and obey him.

v2 Wise Christians decide that much worldly behaviour is off limits for them. Our refusal to conform to this worlds values however must go even deeper than just behaviour and customs, it must be firmly planted in our mind.
“Let God transform you into a new person, by changing the way you think.”

v6-8 Be thankful for those whose gifts are completely different to yours.
Let your strengths balance their weaknesses and be grateful that their abilities make up for your deficiencies.
Together you can build Christ’s Church.

v9-10 God calls us to real and genuine love that goes far beyond being hypocritical and polite.
Genuine love requires concentration and effort

v21 onwards. Even if your enemy never repents, forgiving him or her will free you of a heavy load of bitterness

Forgiveness involves both attitudes and actions.
If you find it difficult to feel forgiving toward someone who has hurt you, try responding with kind actions.
Many time you will discover that right actions lead to right feelings.

Linked bible passages

v1 linked to Romans 6v13
Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.

v2 linked to Ephesians 4v23
Instead let the spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God – truly righteous and holy.

v16 linked to Isaiah 5v21
What sorrow for those who are wise in their own eyes and think themselves so clever.

v19 linked to Deuteronomy 32v35
I will take revenge; I will pay them back. In due time their feet will slip. Their day of disaster will arrive and their destiny will overtake them.

Linked with my thoughts through studying this passage; Proverbs 25v15
Patience can persuade a prince and soft speech can break bones.
The Message paraphrase –
Patient persistence pierce through in difference
gentle speech breaks down rigid defenses.

Following this bible study I felt compelled to email Andy to do what I could to heal any rift that has been caused for whatever reason – Thursday 18th Jan.
Friday 19th Jan I received a less than positive response requesting that I not contact him again as he has no intention of speaking to me again and suggesting that we can “co-exist” at church.

To me the phrase coexisting at church is an oxymoron. But whatver he believes I have done what I can, all that I can do now is pray for him and that he is able to deal with the issues within himself.