Living Out the Riches God Pours In

Successful Living—God’s Way

After Seeking Jesus

After Salvation

After Submitting to the Spirit

After Sacrificing Self to God’s Will

After Starting to Serve with Spiritual Gifts

Strive for Success in Christian Life

Perhaps better: Strive for Spiritual Success.

And the best way to Spiritual Success is to do life like Jesus did.

That’s through love.

First, like Jesus, love God — with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. That brings you to the spiritual decision to respond to God’s love by presenting your bodies as a living sacrifice—a spiritual act of worship. (Rom 12:1)

Second, like Jesus, love your neighbor as yourself, not conforming to the world’s ways but with a heart and mind transformed to treat others with honor, love, and respect. (Rom 12:2)

And love one another as Jesus has loved you, not thinking more highly of yourself than you ought but realizing you are all an important part of the One Body of Christ (Rom 12:3-5)

So as Paul continues to teach how to find Spiritual Success, he reminds us first to . .

Sincerely Love Like Christ

And that is because, without the mind of Christ, without the spiritual eyes to see the immense value God has placed on every person, we will love only for what we get out of it (and that is how we naturally love as humans—for how we feel). We are reminded to love differently.

Romans 12:9–10 ESV

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

Verse nine uses the word for the kind of love that God shows us: agape In other words, a genuing love that thinks more of the one that is loved than of oneself.

Put evil in it’s place: it is not a curiosity but hateful. Yet the good that God surrounds us with is worth hanging on to for all you are worth.

And be sure to be philadelphians in how you regard your fellow Christians: philadelphia eis allelous philostorgoi. You are family; love like brothers and sisters, caring deeply for each other.

And don’t try to get to the top by stepping on others: instead, hoist them up to the highest level you can. Outdo one another in showing honor.

Love like Christ.

Serve Zealously

Serving with zeal is not about protecting your position. The goal is to be zealous, not jealous.

Romans 12:11 ESV

11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

Eagerly find out what you can do for the Lord, for those others around you, and for your own spiritual health. When your focus is on serving the Lord, be sure to seek the heart of the Lord, so your approach to a zealous Christianity does not make you a Bible Bully.

That means to:

Subject Your Goals to God

Instead of to your own ideas of what successful living is like. Paul has some ideas for us what this will look like:

Romans 12:12–13 ESV

12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

The hope of heaven should cause your soul to rejoice. It will help you look past the troubles that you face in the here and now. Your patience will become positive endurance when you constantly bathe your goals in prayer, to seek what it is that God wants for you.

And when your goals are God’s goals, it’s easy to be generous with others. It’s easy to open your home to others, its easy to place the good of other believers a bit ahead of your own goals.

The next clue for Successful living, living out the riches that God pours in to you, is to

Pursue Positive Relationships

Which is just the opposite of how the world works. Most people look for relationships that will better themselves, or give back more than we give out. When a relationship is naturally built on the positive intention to better the lives of those around you, those relationships will bless you back, as long as you are blessing others first with your presence, care, and servanthood.

Paul tells us to...

Disarm Persecution

He doesn’t tell us to pray our way out of it, he tells us to turn your enemies into people you pray for, and remember that their beating up on you shows a lack in their lives. Pray that their lives would be so full of good that there is no idea of doing evil to others.

Romans 12:14 ESV

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

Bless them: Pray that God would pour out good on them. Don’t revile them. Don’t bite back. Don’t wish them harm. Pray that they would see the good and not be trapped by evil designs of others.

Blessing others, even when they are attacking you, will disarm them, because their goals of persecution will not be evident any more.

And, for all, whether persecutors or partners,

Deepen Empathy

And this is given in some very simple terms we can connect to very easily.

How do you deepen empathy? Just get in touch with the emotions others are feeling, and join in:

Romans 12:15 ESV

15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

When someone has reason to celebrate a win, then celebrate with them. When something great has come, rejoice. When a healing or a hope has been fulfilled, be grateful also.

But when heartache has shown up, recognize it. When tears are real, enter that sorrow with them, share the tears, be part of the healing. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” That’s what Jesus said. Be a comforter.

Get in touch with the real feelings of others. You will be less likely to try to hurt them and more likely to try to encourage them. It will add to Positive relationships.

And Paul reminds us to

Disregard Position

When it comes to how we treat one another. It’s not about the degrees you have or the power you have gained or the titles that you hold. Relationship is important to the high and mighty and it is important to the low and powerless. It’s our goal in relationship building to meet everyone on an even footing.

Romans 12:16 ESV

16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.

Harmony begins when you take your place in the choir. A choir is not made up of a bunch of divas or crooners, a choir is more like a well-tuned batch of backup singers. Live in harmony with one another. Take your place in the choir to encourage and help others do their best.

Avoid self-importance. Make real connections with those that others disregard. and make sure your aren’t writing your own grade card or performance evaluation. It’s more important that you have impressed others with your service than with your superiority.

And also,

Do What Adds Peace

Jesus said “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

Paul says it like this:

Romans 12:17–18 ESV

17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

In verse 9 we were reminded to abhor, or hate, what is evil. And if we hate what is evil, we won’t think its OK to pay back evil with evil. Paul offers another direction: Do what everyone will think is the honorable thing.

What might that look like to you?

And in whatever ways, for what ever reason, do your very best to live peaceably. That mean don’t pick fights, it means doing what is right and good for others, and it also means avoiding anger when you connect with others. Not much peace occurs in angry confrontations; but a good contest, played well by the rules, is a way to do your best without degrading another’s character.

In the last piece of this chapter, Paul reminds us that we must

Make No Room for Evil

Make no room. You noticed that good and evil are being described in terms of our actions toward others in this chapter. “Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good.” “Bless those who persecute you.” “Repay no one evil for evil but do what is honorable in the sight of all”

Here’s some clues how to live that out:

Resist Retribution

Our natural tendency is to try to get back at those who get at us. But the Bible is always clear that the Lord God will take care of the retribution. If we try it, we’ll get it wrong, or go too far, or not really take care of any problems. Or maybe just set up a Hatfield vs. McCoy feud that only damages others.

Paul tells believers,

Romans 12:19 ESV

19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Don’t avenge. Don’t be one of the Avengers. Don’t do it for your own ends or by your own means. You will probably get it wrong, hurt the wrong people, misunderstand the motives, and all of that. Instead, remember that only God has the BIG PICTURE, only God is able to see into the heart of mankind, only God is able to manage vengeance as a function of justice. We will mess it up.

Instead, Paul tells us,

Respond with Grace

Don’t try to give your enemy what they deserve; Give them what they DON’T deserve.

Romans 12:20 ESV

20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Show compassion and care to your enemy. Like Jesus does. Like God does.

But don’t do it in order to start a fire in their hair. Paul is just saying, it will blow their mind. They won’t be able to figure it out. They will feel ashamed, and they will learn to look past their desire to do you wrong.

So finally,

Trounce Evil with Good

Romans 12:21 ESV

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

That is the final statement we have here about good and evil...

God Has Poured His Riches In-

How will you live for Him?

— Strive for Spiritual Success — Pursue Positive Relationships — Make No Room for Evil