Into The Breach – How A Christian Man LovesSample

  

Day 6 — Love that’s sincere

Read: Romans 12:9-21

This series of exhortations offers a no-nonsense vision of Christian living that is practical and challenging. Love heads the list and penetrates the entire sequence. This sacrificial, other-centered love (agape in Greek) forms the lifeblood of the Christian way of life. This love is shaped neither by the natural inclinations of our fallen nature nor by the standards of the world but by the power of God’s Spirit transforming the minds and wills of believers according to the way of Jesus Christ. 

Paul first describes love within the Christian community (vv. 9-13), exhorting Christians to imitate within the church the affectionate love of the family, the generous love of spouses and the patient care of siblings for one another. He promotes a practical charity between fellow disciples, encouraging them toward mutual affection and even a healthy competition at showing honor to others. He warns believers to remain fervent as they serve the Lord in season and out. They must find joy in the hope of their salvation, remain steadfast in their times of suffering, and remain constant in a life of prayer.

Paul then describes love within the wider society (vv. 14-21), offering more practical applications of Jesus’s command to love one’s enemies and his call for nonretaliation in the face of opposition and persecution. Christians living in the world should be good neighbors, prepared to rejoice when someone has good news and to be there to support and weep alongside those who face tragedy. Living in accord with others, making company with the lowly, residing peaceably with all—this is the kind of simple witness that disciples of Jesus can offer daily to the world. The converted believer is able to discern God’s will in all sorts of practical situations, learning how to “conquer evil with good” (v. 21) through union with the resurrected Lord and the power of his Spirit within.

REFLECT: Which three of these exhortations should I seek to practice during the coming week? 

PRAY: O God, who calls your people to live radically different from the ways of the world, guide me to discern in every instant how you desire me to live in imitation of Jesus my Lord.