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I give you a new command: Love each other. You must love each other as I have loved you. — John 13:34
Hey, friends! It’s hard to believe it, but we’re in our final week of the Romans OBS! How did that go by so fast?! I do not know.
The good news is if you thought the previous weeks were encouraging, this week is going to knock you out! This is grace times grace times grace because it’s about the Body of Christ coming together unified to be a powerhouse of His grace.
Show love and grace to one another.
Yes, doctrine is important. In fact, it is critical! An improper understanding of the tenets of Christianity can send a person down the wrong path. ~ Max
Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters… The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and, the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. — Romans 14:1
We, Christians, are all in this together. We mustn’t judge! Remember that old line: Major on the majors and minor on the minors.
We believers can so easily get caught up and snagged on such trivial matters, can’t we? It’s easy to get tripped up on the small stuff. When we read in Romans 14 that early Christians were arguing about food sacrificed to idols it might seem like a stupid argument to us today, but we do the same kind of thing today. We’re so easily divided by dumb stuff: parenting choices, politics, clothing styles, humor, movies, music, and social media trends. Have you ever seen Christians fighting on a social media thread? It’s bananas!
But, unity is supposed to be the flavor and fragrance of faith in Jesus, not division.
Like most of our mamas taught us, “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” We should be taking our beef to Jesus and hashing it out with Him before we say a word to anyone else (Matthew 18). We have to learn and practice how to love and show grace to our brothers and sisters in Jesus. It can and will be gorgeous to the world when we do! A freedom their eyes won’t believe because it’s Jesus in the flesh!
If someone is committed to fighting, we don’t have to engage. We can just be at peace and let it go. Not every conflict is our conflict… especially a conflict with a brother or sister in Christ. Instead of fighting one another, we need to fight against real issues and the true enemy together.
Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. — Romans 15:2
One of the coolest things is seeing people who disagree greatly about various topics but are able to be true friends with one another. That’s what we’re called to, friends. Holy disagreement with kindness and grace.
Instead of beating each other to a bloody pulp like the world does, let’s PRAY for brothers and sisters in Jesus. Let’s do a wild thing and stand together. Let’s cheer for one another’s successes, help each other through trials, lift others up even when we don’t agree, lock arms even when we have doctrinal disagreements and be united!
That’s grace!
Amen!
Memory verse: Romans 15:7
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
This week in your study:
- Then, watch the video for session six of Romans: In the Grip of Grace on our study home page and take notes in your study guide on pages 89-96 and stick around to go through the questions afterward!
- Grab your Bible and enjoy your personal study this week on pages 97-102.
- Join the conversations about this week’s teaching and get to know our community in our private Facebook group.
Scriptures this Week
Romans 14-16
Prayer for the Week
Jesus, we love You! We love the Body of Christ even though we are so different that sometimes it’s hard to understand one another and get along. Help us when we get disgruntled and crabby with each other. Help us to be filled to overflowing with grace and peace for our brothers and sisters in You. We want to be like You, welcoming and loving with the Family of God as varied and motley as we are! We want to celebrate how You made us all so uniquely with all kind of differing thoughts and opinions and likes and dislikes. We want to display Your grace for the world to see! We want that joy, Jesus! We love You! Amen.
