Romans 12
Sincerity
To keep love sincere it will stretch us
If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:18
Keeping love sincere takes faith, faith for God to do what we cannot do
If we have a revengeful heart, we will stumble in love
Remember “there are none righteous no not one”
Leave wrath to God because He has a right to deal with wrong
After extending His great mercy
Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. Romans 12:19
Remember Paul says in Romans 12:9
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
As you read the last 2 verses of Romans 12
On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if
he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
How do we hate what is evil and cling to what is good
We “overcome evil with good”
That is sincere love
Sincerity
When was the last time you took a few
minutes to think about the word “sincerity”?
Romans 12 is about people like you and I…
Connected together because of Christ.
The connection is described like the human body.
Where every part of the body is
necessary and each part is different.
There is a human tendency for you and I
to think more highly of ourselves
than we ought.
Our judgements and actions can be expressed
to give us the advantage over others.
If after the church service, we find ourselves
talking about how the pastor or other servants
in the church could have done better…
We may be showing we are better
at the expense of others.
Paul is addressing this problem to those in Rome,
although we should be more mature after 2000 years,
the problem of pride is still with us.
When it comes to being “sincere”…
It is not easy.
Some of us live agreeing with everyone around us
but when it comes to our actions
it is as if we never heard a word.
This usually happens because we hate confrontation
so we don’t say a word when we disagree.
Those of us who want to be accepted
can fall into this trap of insincerity.
Sometimes we are not sincere because
our own agenda it more important.
Others are not considered in
our minds as important as ourselves.
Whether you are in the humble camp
or the proud camp
or somewhere in the balance…
Sincerity is hard to manage.
Why?
Because being sincere has to do with our feelings
and our feelings are not always right.
If we say…
I am just being honest, what does that mean?
Does it mean we are right?...
No
Romans 12:9 says…
Love must be sincere.
When we look at being “sincere”…
We should look at being loving.
We must focus on keeping our love sincere.
Love should always be pure, honest, full of integrity.
How you and I express sincerity
should honor what love is.
Sharing your feelings, being sincere,
should express who God is…
Because God is love.
Paul says…
Love must be sincere.
And the next words are…
Hate what is evil.
Love and hate in the same breath.
The problem with being sincere is…
We hate or dislike some things.
Being sincere is a struggle
with the things we do not like.
So, Paul tells us what we are to hate…
We are to hate evil.
You and I have to make judgements
to what is evil
and what is good all the time.
In our judgments, we must keep love sincere.
So, Paul says…
Love must be sincere.
Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
Be devoted to one another in love.
Honor one another above yourselves.
Romans 12:9-10
We are to hate what is evil but…
Do not repay anyone evil for evil.
Romans 12:17
In fact, we are to…
Bless those who persecute you;
bless and do not curse
Romans 12:14
This means we will have to do Romans 12:12…
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
God’s love is sincere and
we need to keep it that way.
God so loved the world that He died
for each person in it, yet He hates evil.
Keeping love sincere will stretch us.
If it is possible,
as far as it depends on you,
live at peace with everyone.
Romans 12:18
Keeping love sincere takes faith…
Faith for God to do what we cannot do.
If we have a revengeful heart…
We will stumble in love.
Remember…
“There are none righteous, no not one”.
Leave wrath to God because…
He has a right to deal with wrong
after extending His great mercy…
Do not take revenge, my dear friends,
but leave room for God’s wrath,
for it is written:
“It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”
says the Lord.
Romans 12:19
Remember Paul says in Romans 12:9…
Love must be sincere.
Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
As you read the last 2 verses of Romans 12…
On the contrary:
“If your
enemy is hungry, feed him;
if
he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good.
How do we hate what is evil
and
Cling to what is good?…
We “overcome evil with good”.
That is sincere love.
I once worked with a man
who was angry at his situation that day
and
Angry at those who put him in that situation.
That day his anger turned to me.
At one point I thought
he was going to hit me with his fist.
t
At the end of the day,
part of me wanted to hit him with my fist
for taking out his anger on me, but I resisted.
I went up to him as I said…
“I am sorry for your rough day
and
I would not want to do anything
to make your life miserable”.
With his teeth clenched with anger he said,
“I know just leave me alone”.
I had two choices…
\To be sincere to my feelings.
Or to…
Keep love sincere.
From that day to 40 some years later,
I am glad I chose to keep love sincere
and let God work out the rest.
Scripture Reading
Romans 12:9-21
9 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. 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. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if
he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
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