Today’s Scripture: Romans 12:9-21
9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. 12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. 13 When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 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!
17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,
“I will take revenge;
I will pay them back,”
says the Lord.
20 Instead,
“If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap
burning coals of shame on their heads.”
21 Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.
Today’s Devotional
This is the kind of passage that it’s better to let stand on its own. Too much commentary can distract from its message. It’s packed with advice on how to live the Christians life. We could preach a whole sermon series on these verses and it would last about six weeks!
But I did want to draw your attention to the last verse: “Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.”
Yesterday in worship we talked about how to not be evil. The key take-away is that we need to walk in the Spirit in order to shut down our sinful nature. In this verse Paul is giving us practical advice about how to do just that – basically it’s as simple as doing good.
Now doing good will not “earn” you favor with God. Let’s make that perfectly clear. But doing good does help us to keep our sinful nature at bay. It’s hard to be evil when you’re washing someone’s feet.
As you plan out your week, what are some “good things” you can do? What are some ways you can help others? What is something you can do that will benefit someone else instead of yourself? It’s these things that will help you conquer evil.
Today’s Prayer
God help us this week to not give our sinful nature a base of operations but instead guide us toward doing good every day.
Amen
This Week’s Immerse Passages:
Day 16 Jan. 25 pp. 190-202 Rom 8:31-16:27
Day 17 Jan. 26 pp. 203-214 Phm; Col 1:1-4-18
Day 18 Jan. 27 pp. 215-224 Eph 1:1-6:24
Day 19 Jan. 28 pp. 225-241 Phi 1:1-4:23; 1Tim 1:1-6:21
Day 20 Jan. 29 pp. 243-255 Tit 1:1-3:15; 2Tim 1:1-4:22
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