Scripture
Romans 12: 9-10 “Don’t just pretend that you love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good. Love each other with genuine affection and take delight in honoring each other.”
Observation
The first half of the book of Romans is theology. Paul focused on what you should believe. The second half is application. It focuses on how you should behave. What you believe will always impact your behavior. In fact the way you live reveals what you believe. If you want to change your behavior, you have to change your beliefs. That is why Paul says to renew your mind. A change of thinking leads to a change of living.
Here Paul says believers should love one another. They should not just pretend to love but really love them. They hate evil and stand for what is right. They have brotherly love for one another. We are members of the family of God. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul taught we should delight in honoring others and not seek honor for ourselves. I believe the Christian faith is all about loving God and loving people. If we love, we will fulfill all the requirements of the Bible.
Application
I have to be other-centered. My flesh loves to focus on myself. Its priorities are on what I feel and like. As a member of the family of God I should focus on others. I love my brothers and sisters in Christ. I put their needs and wants above my own. I love them more than I love myself. I am to genuinely love other Christians. I do this through: small acts of kindness, giving them honor, letting them speak and me listening, adding value to them, and simply making an effort to put them first.
Prayer
Father, give me a baptism of love. I want to be immersed in your love. I ask that I receive your love today so that I can love you and others. I want to be a man of love. I ask that you remove self-centeredness from me. Enable me to put others first. Renew my mind.
