NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.

Hi — Here are my responses to last week’s challenges!

Last Week’s Work

LESSON(S) LEARNED
As I thought about everything the Spirit showed me in Romans 12, I realized Paul was coaching the Roman church to behave like good relatives: to accept one another as equal members of the family under the authority of our heavenly Father. This is a challenge for me. I have only one vague memory of my earthly father and lots of experience competing with my older brother and sister for positive reinforcement from adults in our extended family. But the focus on think (v3) in this study helps me realize family can mean something different than my experiences. I’m chewing on a couple comments: there is no such thing as Lone Ranger Christianity (Jim Gerrish), and the Christian Church… is still the place where all earthly distinctions are gone (William Barclay). In other words, it doesn’t matter who we were before Jesus. Salvation means our old persona died with Christ, and our new selves born of water and the Spirit might look the same as we did, but we’re not. We are children of God, Jesus is our brother, and none of us is better or worse than anyone else in this family. The only appropriate response to that is to treat each other with love and respect.

CONVICTION

I keep hearing Sister Sledge from 1979 (yes, I remember back that far!) singing We Are Family. That’s the overarching lesson I think the Spirit is impressing upon me: that Christians are family, and our Father is supernaturally fair. We don’t need to compete for anything when we trust Him for everything.

CORRECTION

My correction verse is from a different study I recently finished with my church sisters: Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:11-13). I believe the Spirit is prompting me to see the discontent that arises when I compare myself to others. I can always find someone who is more or better than I am, and my enemy loves to point that out to sow division. Especially in God’s family.

ACTION PLAN

But if I think, I can stop my runaway brain the same way Paul did: learning the discipline of contentment. One key to this is found in Romans 12: being transformed by the renewal of [my] mind (v2). I plan to do that by (1) recognizing when I start comparing and (2) using Scripture or my personal experiences to remind myself it’s not a competition.

Our Next Study

Next week begins the last study in our Restoration series, Galatians 5:1-26. It’s a deep dive into the fruit of the Spirit. I hope you’ll join me!