So this morning I was doing my normal Bible reading and I came across this passage….

Romans 12:9-18 says,

“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction,faithful in prayer. ¹³ Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.^[c] Do not be conceited.

¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

I love these verses. There was a time in my spiritual journey when I mistook knowledge for application. I figured that if I could quote a verse, then I must be living it out or something. I’ve since found that not to be the case. In fact, I’m confident that my life would be significantly different if I simply applied the truths that I already know.

The Bible is a powerful book. If we simply took this one passage above and lived it out, each of our lives would be dramatically different. Think about it…

• If our love was sincere all the time, our relationships would be so much better.
• If we hated evil and clung to what is good, our lives would be infinitely richer.
• If we honored others above ourselves, so much relational strife would cease. Marriages would grow and the divorce rate would drop dramatically.
• If we were faithful in prayer, imagine what God might use all our prayers to accomplish…not only in us, but in the lives of others.
• If we rejoiced with those who rejoice and mourned with those who mourn, imagine the sense of unity that would be created all around us.
• If we chose to not be proud, but embraced those who are in a low position, imagine the difference it would make in our churches. The whole culture would change.
• If we decided that as far as it depends on us, we are going to live at peace with everyone, imagine the relational discord and gossip that would die out.

I didn’t even use all the verses, but I think you get the point. Scripture is powerful and there is a lot at stake. If only we would just obey it….if only we would just obey God.