Roadmap to Abiding in Christ

 

 What does loving like Jesus look like? We can talk about the theory of it, the mentality, all day long, but true love requires action. So, if we are to put feet to our faith and act out what we know, how will others witness the love of Jesus poured out through our lives? Romans 12:9-13 gives us a roadmap to follow with our lives.

Love must be without hypocrisy

 First off, it must be genuine!  So often we are taught to, “Fake it till you make it,” but the world can see right through this. One of the world’s biggest criticisms of Christians is that they are hypocrites, saying one thing and doing another. This is not the witness we want to have for Jesus who would never do this! Love expressed through us must be sincere, or not expressed at all. You are not better off showing someone a fake love.

Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good

 I looked up “abhor” to confirm my understanding, and where I thought it meant, “hate” it actually means, “extreme hatred.” This is next level stuff! We aren’t just to avoid those things that the Bible tells us are bad for us, but we are to actively despise it. The world wants us to long for those things and feel deprived when we cannot have them. It wants us to resent God for keeping them from us. But the Bible teaches us that we are not supposed to begrudgingly abstain from evil but to abhor it. We are to feel thankful and blessed that we are not trapped by its schemes. We need to recognize that we have found a better path – one of goodness and freedom. Rather than wishing we were sick, we can rejoice that we are well in Christ!

Be devoted to one another with mutual love, showing eagerness in honoring one another

I get excited to see my friends. I am eager to hear what is going on in their lives and be an encouragement to them. I also intentionally seek to mourn with them, finding joy even in this as we live life and seek God together. This is how I understand being devoted to one another, and how I see Jesus relating to us. He didn’t wait for us to show love to Him, He first loved us. He is eager to encourage and restore us through His Holy Spirit. As He does this for us, so we ought to do it for each other.

Do not lag in zeal, be enthusiastic in spirit, serve the Lord

 If you’ve ever been in charge of tending a camp fire, or a cooking fire, you know that periodically you’ve got to poke it. This is called, “stoking the fire.” By stirring up the coals or rearranging the wood, you provide oxygen to the fire which reinvigorates and enlivens it. A fire left to sit untouched will grow cold. In Matthew 24 verse 12, Jesus warns that in the end times the love of many will grow cold, but this isn’t His desire for us. He longs that we would not lag in our zeal but be enthusiastic in spirit. If you wonder why crazy things happen, why things that may even seem negative come into your life, perhaps it is God stirring up the coals of your faith so that you won’t grow cold. You can praise Him for it, even when it doesn’t make sense in the moment, trusting that His plan is always and forever for our good.

Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering, persist in prayer

How do we rejoice when we lose our job, our health, or even a loved one? In hope. We have hope for a better future. We have hope that this too will be used of God. We have hope that He knows what He is doing and we don’t have to worry. It is not ours to control. I’m encouraged by the chorus of “Hold On” by Katie Nichole:

Hold on just a little bit longer

I know it's gonna be okay

These days are gonna make you stronger

You'll find purpose in the pain

Hold on just a little bit longer

Deep down, there's a well of faith

Let hope arise as you're liftin' up My name

And just hold on

Just hold on, hold on

 We don’t have to dig deep into our own reserves to do this, God provides a well of faith for us to draw from as we have need. We are never alone in our suffering – if nothing else we can rejoice in this! How do we manage to rejoice in hope and endure in suffering? We must persist in prayer! This is how we access the wealth of joy in any and every circumstance. It is not something we are supposed to muster up on our own, it is a gift already given to us by the Holy Spirit. We just need to accept it and use it.

Contribute to the needs of the saints, pursue hospitality

 Out of this abundance, we can contribute to the needs of others. God is not asking us to go without or be deprived of what we need. His storehouses are full and His provision plentiful. When we give, with His direction, of our time, talent and treasure, we can be assured that our own needs will be overwhelmingly met as well. Remember though this is not a scheme where we can challenge God or seek out an earthly return of value. For example, I’ve heard of those who took the promises of scriptures like Mark 10:30, Malachi 3:10, and Proverbs 3:9-10 literally seeing them as some sort of annuity. They would give $100 and fully expect $1,000 to be returned to them. But the Spirit of these verse is:

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. [2 Corinthians 9:6-8 ESV]

Here’s the Thing: These are not a listing of “thou shalt” and “thou shalt not”s. it’s not even six self-help steps. What they are is a roadmap to abiding in Christ. That’s what we’ve been searching out and discovering over the last several weeks. Sometimes in order to do something we need to know what it looks like. I often watch YouTube videos to learn a new skill in this way. Romans 12 shows us what abiding in Christ looks like so that we can emulate it in our own lives.