Category Archives: Romans

Don’t tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble. You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning. We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord.

Romans 14:20-15:2

Dear God, the whole issue of what constitutes a sin in your eyes and what doesn’t is one that, again, Satan ha successfully used to divide Christians for the last 2,000 years—and it started almost immediately in the early church. And that’s just over the issue of “right and wrong.” Some examples of this would be drinking alcohol, premarital sex, same sex relationships/marriage, etc.

But then we get into differences in theology, which can be even more vague and have a potential to be man-made. Examples of this would be infant baptism, alcohol, musical instruments in worship, and even whether you can use anything but the King James Bible.

Man, we love to judge each other. And I confess to you that I do it. Growing up Baptist and now attending a Catholic church with my wife, there is a temptation to judge all kinds of things that I see because they a different than what I learned growing up. I emphasize those two words because a lot of us assume what we learned originally is the truth, but when we examine it more closely we start to realize that it has the potential to be as flawed as the thing we are criticizing.

Father, you cannot make me an instrument of your peace when I am going around judging people on a wholesale level. So help me to major in the majors, keep myself pure according to how you convict me, and love everyone I can.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

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. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

Romans 12:9-16

Dear God, Romans 12 is one of those passages that you hear referenced a lot in Christian circles. Why? Because it’s good stuff. But as I think about each thing that Paul mentions here, I can’t help but think it all goes back to Jesus’ two great commandments: Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-39). It’s that simple.

The problem with evaluating myself on how I am doing in these areas is that I have no perspective on myself. It takes outside people to look at me and ask how I’m doing. I need their perspective and their critical eye because it always takes someone else to push you harder than you can push yourself. That’s why even athletes who participate in solo sports like tennis or golf still need coaches. So how am I doing there? Frankly, I probably need a coach.

Father, I’d like to think I live a life that lives up to Romans 12, but I know I’m falling short. Of course I am. Help me to do better. Use my wife to sharpen me. Use our church to sharpen me. Use my friends and family too. Help me to not be too proud to completely submit to you and those whom you put in my life to help me.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For the Scriptures say, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God. ’” Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.

Romans 14:10-13

Dear God, who was it that I was listening to this last week that gave a similar message. I can’t remember who it was, but they were basically talking about a company that focuses not on what it is doing to improve itself, but instead focuses on a competing company and why it competes with them too aggressively. Oh, I remember now. There’s an outside consultant who works with us on our board retreat every year and she mentioned it in our planning meeting. She was talking about the difference between us benchmarking ourselves against other agencies to see where we might improve and sitting around and feeling sorry for ourselves because someone else might take a different tack than we do. Don’t worry about changing them. Change yourself.

That’s what this passage communicates to me this morning. I have certainly not figured you out, I often have a hard time discerning your will, so why would I spend any time evaluating someone else’s relationship with you?

Father, help me to be willing to be a builder of your kingdom through how you live out your will in my life. And help me to be an encourager of you in others. Help me to not make anyone stumble, but instead point people to you. It starts with the life I live, the things I say and the actions I take. I confess that on Saturday I participated in ridiculing someone else with a friend. I’m sorry for that I really am. Come to think of it, I did the same thing Friday too about a different person. I need to be better in this area and give more respect to others.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.

Romans 13:8

Dear God, debt is one of those interesting things that can be hard to evaluate. I think there’s a range of opinions on the types of debt and if some is more acceptable than others.

For me, I put debt on a spectrum. If all debt is “bad,” then I would say, on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being least bad and 10 being most bad, something like a mortgage would be a 1, a car payment would be a 3, credit card debt would be a 6, and debt to loan sharks would be a 10. Frankly, in my mind, the “badness” of debt is often directly proportional with the interest rate you’re able to get for it.

I remember going to a church that was in the middle of a building campaign. They were trying to do it with no debt, but they hit a milestone where the builder needed their next draw by a certain day in the middle of the construction. They appealed to the congregation to prayerfully consider giving an extraordinary amount to meet this need. I was telling my dad the story and that the church was trying to do this debt free and he said, “They are already in debt. They owe the builder more than they have so they are in debt to the builder.” So I guess it’s possible to lie to ourselves when it comes to our debt.

For my wife and me, we have one mortgage for our house and we have one car payment. Both payments are low and a manageable and combined total about 15% of our monthly gross income. This level of debt allows us some freedom in not owing a bunch of people every month and having room to take on a debt of an emergency were to arise.

Father, I don’t want to miss the other point of this passage, which is to love one another. That is the debt that will always be owed. Love others through me. Help me to always avoid the thought that I have done enough. When I wake up in the morning, let that be the debt that is on my mind, and when I go to sleep, let it be the debt I take with me into my nightly rest. Give my wife and me wisdom and discernment as we manage our personal finances and thank you for the financial blessings that have allowed us to keep our debt so low. We certainly did not do it on our own. Others have been good to us, and you have been very good to us.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:6-8

Dear God, it seems like my source for daily Bible verses, Bible Gateway’s Verse of the Day, has been focused a lot on redemption for sins lately. Maybe it’s an Easter thing, but it makes me think of my pastor in high school. My criticism of him, in retrospect, is that he spent almost every Sunday talking about your grace and hardly any time talking about discipleship. It left me having to largely figure out relationship with you on my own.

Faith in you without discipleship becomes just a philosophy by which I live my life. If I am a Christian who isn’t pursuing relationship with you, in the end, I am nothing more than a person who has added the Christian philosophy into my life, but I’m not giving the Holy Spirit opportunities to transform me into a new creation. I don’t leave room for conviction for my sins. I don’t open myself up to changing my mind on issues. I don’t die to myself, take up my cross, and really follow you.

Father, take me farther down the road today. Help me to use prayer time like this to consider my beliefs and take a step closer to your heart. Help me to glorify you.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:20-23

Dear God, I’ve never been much of a scripture memorizer, but Romans 6:23 is one that my high school youth minister had us memorize as he taught us how to lead someone to you: Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 10:9-10. Those were to be our go-to verses. Funny how I can remember that over 30 years later. I’d say that’s the evidence of an effective youth minister.

Thinking of our sin and being a slave to it, I had a—oh, what’s the word—I’ll say tricky conversation with a friend yesterday morning. He was talking about some things his 17-year-old son is doing that concern him from a sinfulness standpoint. He and his wife have told the son they disapprove. They’ve had him talk with the youth minister at their church with seemingly little effect. I wasn’t sure how to counsel him because I’m actually not sure where I am on the topic. It’s a complicated world. My best advice to him was to make sure that, above all else, their son feels loved. Loved by them, loved by the youth minister, but most of all, loved by you.

I talked to my wife about the situation over lunch and she had really wise words—“I guess my question would be, what do you hope to accomplish? Are you trying to convince him he’s wrong because you can’t convince or convict a 17-year-old of anything?” Yes, that’s right. It’s the Holy Spirit that convicts and our heart chooses how to respond.

Father, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus. And if you confess with my mouth the Jesus is Lord, and believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead then you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” Save me, Father. I believe in Jesus. I confess that He is my Lord. Take care of my friend’s son and help all of them to work this out before the glory of your throne.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:20-23

Dear God, how much shame do I feel for the things I used to do and the things I still do?

On Sunday, I gave a sermon that included the sin of grumbling—especially against leadership. Then the next day I found myself really wanting to grumble about people. In fact, someone who heard the sermon asked me what kind of interactions I’ve had with someone else and I said, “Well, in the spirit of not grumbling, I’m not going to answer that.” Even that was too harsh and mean in nature, but it was truly the nicest thing I could think to say at the time and it’s still the nicest think I have to say.

Father, I must never forget that I have a long way to go before I am even close to being your holy servant. I am still a slave to so much that isn’t holy. I’m sorry. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for what you did through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Thank you for giving me a chance at making my little life on earth something that might make a difference for your Kingdom.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

Romans 8:26-28

Dear God, my wife and I were talking about one of our children and how things keep going a different direction than we hope. My comment to her was, “Well, we are praying for her so I’m going to assume this is the path God has and things are happening the way they are supposed to happen.”

There have been times in my life where I’ve had no idea what to pray and I’ve been down to groans and just letting the Holy Spirit pray for me and put my hope in the idea that you understand. And I think you always do. Well, I know you always do.

Father, the more experience I get with you the more I am willing to absorb bad times and look beyond my current circumstances to see that there could still be a good outcome down the line—maybe not for me, but for your overall plan. So please help me to remain at peace in all situations and to pass on what I have learned from experience. Help me to also accept what others with a message from you have to teach me. Whether it is a wise friend or any other source, help me to always hear your voice when you are speaking.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.

Romans 13:8-10

Dear God, so I “owe” it to people to love them. I mean, I kind of knew that I owed it to you to love them, but I’d never considered the idea that I owe it to them.

Right now, I’m spending a few days meeting with a bunch of different people. It’s going to be easy for me to love some of them, but for some, it sure doesn’t feel like I owe them love. Some of them have hurt people I naturally love. Some of them will not respect my love for you. And some of them need your light and healing. In some cases, it will take dying to myself to love them.

Father, especially for the next three days, help me to love both naturally and unnaturally. Help me to be your ambassador of peace. Help me to fulfill your complete law by exhibiting the love I have the opportunity to show to everyone with whom I come into contact.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen