1.Let love be genuine.
2.Abhor what is evil;
3. hold fast to what is good.
4.Love one another with brotherly affection.
5.Out do one another in showing honor.
6.Do not be slothful in zeal,
7. be fervent in spirit,
8. serve the Lord.
9. Rejoice in hope,
10. Be patient in tribulation,
11. Be constant in prayer.
12.Contribute to the needs of the saints
13.and seek to show hospitality.
14.Bless those who persecute you;
15.bless and do not curse them.
16.Rejoice with those who rejoice,
17.weep with those who weep.
18.Live in harmony with one another.
19.Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.
20.Never be wise in your own sight.
21.Repay no one evil for evil,
22.but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
23.If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
24.Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
25.To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”
26.Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Romans 12:9-21 ESV
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Sara, this list reminds me somewhat of one of the devotional I read this morning. The devotional [ and I will paraphrase] said if you do ALL these things aforementioned above….and I will also add…. not being touchy, fretful or resentful or offended; not easily provoked; not thinking evil; no respecter of persons…..then maybe…..just maybe you might maybe be…. ”as good as your dog!! ” Seriously!
I doubt I could be as good as my dogs.
‘Marks of the true Christian’…Because this passage from Romans was put into this numbered list, it became must more sobering to me.The list of 26 items above remind me of 26 areas of evaluation with ‘marks’ meaning the grade received for each. As a teacher, I have been instructed that there are two main ways of assessment, subjective and objective. My understanding is that subjective is based more on an evaluator’s perception and understanding which can biased and unreliable. Objective relies on evaluation tools, like rubrics or checklists, which measure performance factually. I see the check list of 26 behaviors above as factual, either you do them and get a passing grade and qualify as a Christian, or you don’t and fail to qualify being a real Christian. It’s also like a lab test, either positive or negative, the results don’t lie.
This list looks like a mountain in my eyes. And, I’m not a climber!
Looks like a mountain list to me too……..and, I’m thinking the list could go on?
I would just love to hear your stories of success or failure between #’s 16 and 17. And, if failure, did any life lessons come from it? Or, if success, is it easy and ongoing?
I was reading, thinking and evaluating just how drastic theses two action figures seem to me. Then, I’m thinking what about where the middle man (ourselves) might be when giving the weep and the rejoice! Seems like a multi-split personality to me.
Numbers 16 & 17 seem to be a dichotomy…as you point out. But when someone I love is hurting….it touches my heart. And not only my own family members but friends whom I care about; and sometimes I weep for those who are suffering because they belong to those friends whom I love and care about. And because they are wounded of heart due to the infirmity of a loved one I too, hurt with my friends because I love them.
However, rejoicing is different in that I am filled with joy and gladness at a success of those I love or when I hear a story of triumphant success over evil, over adversity, over insurmountable odds Then I jump for joy with them and thank God for His mercy on His children and His creation.
There seems to be a lot of “weeping with those who weep” in the Body of Christ these days. We look to Jesus for His unspeakable mercy and healing power.