Bible Study
Main focus: Discipleship
*Romans 12:9-21
Godly character is expected. It is not only expected by God, but by the leadership of this church. The Insult jar is not a joke or just a good way to raise money for missions, but it is a reminder that we need to honor God with our mouths.
Is this passage in Romans a checklist? If you do these things you are good to go? No, that is not the point of Paul telling us these things. He is giving us a real life look at how a Christian should live.
Both Victoria and Daejanna shared on Sunday morning about how they could see Christ on the faces and lives of the African brothers and sisters. How does that happen? Is it just by an eventual switch that gets flipped in your heart and you “become” like Christ? Not at all. You don’t become like Christ overnight. You have to make choices and struggle with your sin nature to champion Him above all else.
Let me ask you this question. What is the difference between moral living and godly living? They both look the same. They both seem to honor God the same way. After all, a lot of people think that their way to God is through doing good things. But what is the foundational difference between the 2?
The difference is that one has its foundation in a relationship with God. The other is simply going along with what we all know to be the “right” thing to do; the reason you obey your parents, avoid drugs, help the old lady with her groceries, don’t cheat on a hard test is that you want to be a good person.
Godly living has its base in Christ. The reason you don’t do all the before mentioned things is because you want to honor God. Your point of view is no longer set on yourself, but is set on God and making sure that others see Him in you. Like my favorite verse in the Bible. John 3:30 “He must increase, I must decrease.” You don’t have a focus on you becoming a good person, but on God being a great God in your life.
Does living a godly life just fall into your lap at random? It’s kind of like sleeping on your textbook and expecting the knowledge to just seep through into your brain. It is not going to happen. You have to make a conscious daily choice to grow in your relationship with God. If you are a Christian, this is what is expected of you.
If you had a friend that only called or texted you whenever you needed something, would you be eager to hear from them every day? Not really. It would probably drive you crazy. But if you had a friend that was always inviting you over to hang out, have pizza, go to movies and all, you would look forward to having them call you. Don’t be that guy that just comes to God when you need something. Start moving toward Him every day. Start inviting Him to be a part of everything that you do.
Stepping towards God on a daily basis takes work. It takes time and effort. How do you make sure that you are taking steps towards God and not just floating through life? It’s helpful to set goals and actually start working on your problem areas. Are you having trouble finding what you need to work on? Read through Romans 12:9-21 and pick one to start working on. Ask God to help you as you try to watch what you say, or maybe how you treat others. He will love the interaction and will come alongside you to guide you through.
Another way to make sure that you are on track is to have a mentor. This is something that has been on my heart for a while. I want to make sure that you each have a person that you can go to 24/7 with questions/concerns or just to pray.
A mentor helps keep you on track. They help you stay accountable and make sure that you are spending time with God. This is a great way to grow in your walk with God.
Right now we are working on a structure to provide a mentor for each one of you. Until that happens, know that I am always available! Any of our other student workers would love to be a mentor for you as well. You don’t have to wait until we get things organized, you can simply ask one of us to be a mentor for you.
If nothing else, make sure that you are taking steps towards God. Reading scripture on a daily basis, spending time in prayer, and working on these things mentioned in Romans 12.
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