Christ calls us to follow His example and to refuse to curse them, to repay their evil, or to take revenge. We will let God handle that. Instead, as Jesus said, we will give food and water to our enemies in acts of kindness in order to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:14–21).
In Romans chapter 12 the apostle Paul urges the believer to live their entire life devoted to God. The believer can not give 50% to God and 50% to the world, or even 98% to God with 2% held back. If the gospel is true and if Christ is who He says He is, then he demands 100% response.
Paul here explains how to live out the will of God: Keep in mind the rich mercy of God to you – past, present, and future (by the mercies of God). As an act of intelligent worship, decide to yield your entire self to Him (present your bodies a living sacrifice).
Romans 12:10 calls on us to embrace a deep devotion and love for one another while honoring each other above ourselves. This message of selflessness and community serves as a powerful reminder of the love and devotion exemplified by Ruth and Naomi and the early Christian church.
Romans 12:2 shows that we live out God's will when we change our thoughts to God's thoughts, rather than living like the world dictates. The world will always pressure us to live sinfully and selfishly, but to live the good life God wants from us requires changing how we behave—by changing our thoughts.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.
Paul is calling for Christians to give themselves as sacrifices to God because it is our reasonable act of worship. It is eminently reasonable and rational for believers to fully dedicate themselves to God. The reason we should offer our lives as complete sacrifices to God is because of God's mercies.
Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. ( Rom. 12:13) Generosity is a readiness to give more than is necessary or expected. Here Christ calls us to be generous especially in relation to our homes, our time, and our possessions.
In Christ We Form One Body—Romans 12:4-5. In Christ Jesus we were set apart to belong to God. No longer a part of this world we have been made sons and daughters through Christ and called into a royal priesthood. In the same way, we belong to the body of Christ which is the church.
Romans 12 is the twelfth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle, while he was in Corinth in the mid-50s AD, with the help of an amanuensis (secretary), Tertius, who adds his own greeting in Romans 16:22.
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” The above verse shows us how we are to respond in various situations we face in life. Our hearts should be full of joy because we have hope in Christ. When facing troubles, patience will prevent us from giving up before seeing our victory.
This life of worship, then, is the appropriate response to the mercy God has already given to us. Romans 12:1–2 answers the question, ''How should we respond to God's great mercy to us? '' The answer is to become living, breathing sacrifices, using our lives up in service to God as an ongoing act of worship.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
The believer is constantly dying unto sin and entering into a new life of righteousness unto God as he makes the living sacrifice referred to by Paul in Romans 12:1.
11 Scripture reassures us, "No one who trusts God like this - heart and soul - will ever regret it." 12 It's exactly the same no matter what a person's religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help.
Renewing our minds can be done by reading the Bible, meditating on the Bible, and applying what we learn from the Bible to our lives. It can be difficult to automatically talk back to the lies of the world, but it is required in order to renew your mind. God doesn't want you to conform to the world.
Read: Romans 12:1-2 (MSG): So, here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life— you're sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.
We shouldn't think of ourselves more highly then we ought, but in the same manner we shouldn't think of ourselves lowly either. We are given the same measure of faith to accomplish God's will for our lives, understanding that his will and his plan are a gift.
Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2 what being a “living sacrifice” involves and then what the results of such living are. The essence of this idea of sacrifice is that we are to be willing to offer ourselves to God. The truest sacrifice we can make is to try and live according to His purposes for our lives.
[1] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Romans 12:15 is a precious verse meant to provide pastoral wisdom in the church and inject personal sensitivity into our relationships. We honor the verse by obeying what it means to command, not by insisting on what is impractically one-sided, out of step with the context, and inconsistent with the example of Jesus.
21 Do not let evil things win against you! Instead, do good things. Then you will win against the evil things that people do.
In Romans 5:12-21, it is explained by comparing Adam with Christ: Adam sinned and this was how death entered the world. However, it was not the law, but Christ who gave his life for this purpose eliminated what Adam did. Christ's death not only cancelled the harm caused by Adam's fall, but surpasses it by far.
In verses four and five, Paul presented the church in the imagery of the human body. A body has more than one member. It has a multiplicity of members. Differing members of the local church have different gifts. Each gift has its special purpose for the church.
The seven motivational gifts found in Romans 12—(a) perceiving, (b) serving, (c) teaching, (d) encouraging, (e) giving, (f) ruling, and (g) mercy—when viewed as a profile provide a base for person-job fit suitable for use with all people regardless of faith tradition.