CHURCH MEMBERSHIP (16)

True Christian behaviour from Romans 12.

Walking the Word

• V9 Genuinely loving. There is no room for love as a mere display or performance. Forced smiles and polite language that covers up selfishness, competitiveness or dislike is not genuine love. Love must be the starting point for all Christian behaviour (1 Cor 13).
• V9 Hating evil. True Christian character expresses itself in aggressive opposition to the remains of sin within us. A genuine Christian fights against his/her sin, putting it to death (Rom 8). We don’t fight against people, but we show no mercy to sin. We fight it first in ourselves and we attack the mind-set of sin in others by using the Sword of the Spirit – the Word of God – to demolish strongholds in peoples’ thinking that hold them in slavery to sin.
• V9 Holding onto good. We will not sacrifice good in order to make money or win friendships. Good is non-negotiable. The genuine Christian treasures good and will let go of everything else to hold onto it. The greatest good is Christ himself – our highest treasure from which all good flows. Anything we enjoy in life must act as a springboard to higher appreciation of Christ – if it can’t do this is ought to be avoided.
• V10 Treating Christians as family. Our relationships are those of brother and sister. We learn to know each other well. There is an avoidance of formality. We open up our lives to let our brother and sister Christians in.
• V10 Giving respect and attention to other Christians. The only competitiveness amongst us is to outdo each other in showing interest, honour and attention. We do not overlook or undermine our brothers and sisters.
• V11 Spiritually energetic – serving the Lord. We keep the fires of our passion for the Lord and his people and his work always burning. We are not flat, bored or disinterested. We feed our passion by devouring the Word of God and engaging with Christians.
• V12 Joyful. Genuine Christian character is happy. It delights in God and is always striving to experience Christ and his work more fully in order to be more joyful. Being joyful in God is a huge priority. Increase your joy by knowing Christ more.
• V12 Hopeful. Real Christians have an unquenchable optimism. They believe the promises of God and set their sails into that future. They are not defeated by storms and setbacks.
• V12 Patient through troubles. When trials come, as they must, we do not give up and turn to our own methods or complain. Real Christians see trouble as necessary learning and refining that must occur within our lives.
• V12 Always praying. (Constant = unbroken). Genuine Christians pray and pray often. They understand that although much of God’s grace comes like rain on all people, there is special grace that God will give to his people to enable them to be Christ-like and share in his work. This grace must be received deliberately. He sets out his intentions in promises and we must turn those into prayers – asking and receiving, seeking and finding, knocking and having the door opened to us.
• V13 Generous to other Christians in need. Christians believe Jesus when he said there is more happiness in giving than receiving. We are quick to come alongside Christians who need material help and support them as we are able.
• V13 Hospitable. Because we are a family, we open our homes to one another. We do not keep our stuff for private comfort, but use our resources to make others feel at home and welcome.
• V14 Blessing trouble-makers, not repaying trouble on them. We love our enemies by seeking opportunities to help them. We refuse to get into payback.
• V15 Empathetic in joy and sorrow. Genuine Christians are not jealous of those who are enjoying success, nor do we stand back from those suffering grief. We involve ourselves with people.
• V16 Harmonious. Christians try to avoid clashes with each other and aim to work alongside each other rather than against each other. We may differ on some things but we aim to do so with respect and humility.

• V16 Humble and willing to serve. Christians do not seek status, except to outdo one another in serving. We mix willingly with people of all backgrounds and don’t distinguish between people because of their levels of education of wealth.
• V16 Willing to learn – teachable. A genuine Christian is a disciple – a learner. We never consider ourselves beyond learning, but keep a humble estimation of our own abilities.
• V17 Free of retaliation. We never put trouble back on people who put trouble on us. We are deeply forgiving – though we do not condone the evil people do.
• V17 An honourable public testimony. Our lives are seen to be good. We are not hypocrites, but have a good reputation among unbelievers as consistently good people.
• V18 Peacemaker. Although we will face people who oppose us for doing good, as far as it depends upon us we try to keep the peace. We avoid entering into pointless arguments and feuds.
• V19 Not aggressive. We make no threats and do not use abusive language. When spoken to hatefully, we respond with patience and respect.
• V19 Confident in God’s justice. We commit our cause to God, happy to leave our enemies in his hands.
• V20 We love our enemies by helping them when they are in trouble, because we hope that our love will bring about a burning conviction in their minds that might lead them to repentance.
• V21 Fighting righteously. We loathe evil and kill it with good. We begin with our own lives and extend the same principle out through our families and into the world. For every evil we come across, we seek to eat it’s oxygen with the fire of good deeds inspired by God’s Spirit.