Romans 1:9-10: Digging Deeper
Welcome to Grace Outpost and thanks for joining me here once
again. Last week we looked at Romans
1:1-17 and we saw how it introduces the book.
Paul introduces himself to the Roman church, which he had not visited,
and he shares the basics of the Gospel right up front. Before we continue forward I wanted to look a
little deeper into Romans 1:9-10 and look at two things we can learn from Paul
today.
9 For God is my witness,
whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I
mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may
now at last succeed in coming to you.
Romans 1:9-10 ESV
The
first thing I noticed about Paul is that he has a concerned spirit. He says that he prays for them always, he has
a burden on his heart for this group of believers whom he has never met. Do you have a burden for a certain group of
people or a particular plight? Do you
bring it to God in your prayers and do you do that often? I think we begin to grow when we learn to
empathize with others and share a concern for their hurts and struggles. Jesus always met people in their need, in
their pain or shame. I think of the
woman at the well, who no doubt was not proud of her circumstances, but Jesus
had compassion for her and concern for her.
The women caught in adultery, Jesus didn’t condemn her or abandon her in
her need. Examples of this abound and I
think we can see in Paul’s brief statement in verse 9 the same principle. He was burdened with their best interests and
petitioned God on their behalf often.
The
second thing I notice about Paul is that he has a willing spirit. What do I mean by a willing spirit? I mean that Paul was 100% sold on serving on God;
we see this in the beginning of verse 9.
I also see that he is willing to be the answer to the prayer that he
prays for the Romans. In verse 10 he
asks God if it is his will for him to go there, to meet them, to teach them,
and to serve them.
Gandhi once said that if you want to change the world start with
yourself. Start with yourself. Many of us would like to see change happen in
the world, we may even have some phenomenal ideas on how to achieve that, but
most of us, if we are honest, want someone else to do the work. The truth is that many of us see many of the
responsibilities expected of a believer in Scripture and seek ways to support
someone else doing that work rather than doing it ourselves. There is definitely a place for financial
support to various ministries, but never in the place of our own
responsibilities as followers of Christ.
I think these two characteristics of Paul are hallmarks of a
mature Christian and they go hand in hand.
When we find ourselves allowing our hearts to be broken for other
people, we will naturally begin to be willing to serve those very people if God
will allow us. We will be the first
people to stand up and march alongside of them in whatever manner the situation
demands. It really comes down to the
greatest and second greatest commandment that Jesus spoke of in Matthew
22:36-40.
36 “Teacher, which is the
great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38
This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall
love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law
and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22:36-40 ESV
The way to become more mature is to submit ourselves to God
through love. Our love for others will
flow out of our love for God. Obedience
to God will flow out of our love for God and our love for God comes from God’s
love for us and the mercy he has shown us through Jesus.
19 We love because he
first loved us.
1 John 4:19 ESV
I have resolved to invest myself more into people and to pour
myself into their lives and situations.
I want to care deeply about people, so much that I am willing to stand
up and say to God “I am here, use me to meet that need”. Are you willing to invest into people this
much? Are you ready to be a willing
servant to ask God to use you to meet the needs you see around you? I know that I am.