February 3 – Getting Along Must Be Hard
By Audrey Bauman
Romans 15: 1 - 13 (NLT)
“We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. 2 We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. 3 For even Christ didn’t live to please himself. As the Scriptures say, “The insults of those who insult you, O God, have fallen on me.” (Psalm 69:9) 4 Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.
5 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. 6 Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory. 8 Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors. 9 He also came so that the Gentiles might give glory to God for his mercies to them. That is what the psalmist meant when he wrote:
“For this, I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing praises to your name.” (Psalm 18:49)
10 And in another place it is written,
“Rejoice with his people,
you Gentiles.” (Deuteronomy 32:43)
11 And yet again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles.
Praise him, all you people of the earth.” (Psalm 117:1)
12 And in another place Isaiah said,
“The heir to David’s throne will come,
and he will rule over the Gentiles.
They will place their hope on him.” (Isaiah 11:10)
13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Once again, we see Paul pleading with these new believers in the Christian faith to get along with each other. Paul faced a particularly difficult group as traditional Jewish people were faced with accepting the Gentiles, a group of people they had always looked down on. Paul lets them know that God always had the Gentiles in mind as he quotes Old Testament scripture. I have a feeling that some of the new Jewish Christians were surprised by that. So I don’t think Paul is being too obsessed by spending so much time on this topic. It was a huge issue in the beginning church. Chapter 12 through half of chapter 15 is devoted to the need that Christians accept one another with love. That’s 3 1/2 chapters out of 16 focused on getting along. I also don’t think it’s too obsessive for the 21st Century church to be reminded over and over that we must be kind to each other. It seems that some kind of rage has been unleashed in the past couple of years that has encouraged people to speak their minds in an aggressive way we haven’t seen before.
“May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (verses 5 and 6) Those are the verses that I think are the key ones. For those living outside the church today, we should be known for our patience and encouragement, not quarreling and being judgmental. Yet so often, the world around us sees Christians as difficult people, people who have bazillions of rules and regulations, and who look down on those who don’t follow them. Surely, if they saw the church as a warm and welcoming place where people are encouraged and loved, wouldn’t they be flocking to our doors?
It just makes me think – think about how well I accept and encourage others, about how much I might give the impression that I expect more of the people around me, about whether I give off
a judgmental ‘air’ in my responses to others, about how well I love the people in my church (or do I just put up with them?), about critical comments I might make about my church. All these questions cross my mind, and lead me to pray for forgiveness, and for the patience that only God can give as I live with everyone who crosses my path, and especially with other Christ followers.
Reread these verses and ask God to point out what you need to think about and possibly change in your relationships with those around you.
Our song for today is Speak Life by Toby Mac.