Life Princibles
Chris Murray box 75 Dr. Gilbert Parker BIBL 3111 25 November 2012 Life Principles to live by from the book of Romans In the book of Romans Paul gives us some really helpful tips on how we should live our Christian life. Our relationship with Him and how we treat others. Here are some of the life principles that I would like to follow in my life. The first one and perhaps the most important is I want to live a life that is in obedience to the Lord. I want to have the power and privilege that obedience to the Lord offers.
Paul wrote in Romans 8:7-9 “for the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You however are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if in fact the spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ” In our culture we are very big in having control over everything. I want to be in control of my life, the master of my fate, and the captain of my ship. But the true power comes when I can hand over that power to God.
In order for me to be truly obedient I need to first be able to submit my will to God’s will, having the ability to admit when I do not know what is best for myself. Once I have admitted that I do not know what is best for me I then need to trust God because he does know what is best. Through that trust in Him I then should be obedient to what he tells me to do. If I am obedient to God then my mind will not be on the things of the flesh and I can have the “spirit of Christ” and belong to him. Another principle that I find important is not to pass judgment on someone else, especially when concerning the grey areas of life.
Romans 14:4 “who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord will be able to make him stand. ” I need to be careful not to condemn my brothers and sisters in Christ when they do things that I might think is wrong, especially if it is a grey area. One example of this is that I have many Christian friends who drink alcohol, I personally do not believe as a Christian we should drink. I really have to try harder to not judge them and just understand that God is in control.
The next principle goes along with the last one. This one states that I cannot cause my brother and sister in the Lord to stumble. Romans 14:13 States “Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. ” Some things that I consider ok in these grey areas might not be ok to some of my friends. I need to be more aware of their spiritual state so I don’t temp them to sin. Then in vs15 Paul wrote “for if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love.
By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. ” If I am doing something that is causing my brother to be grieved I need to stop for his sake. An example of this is that I find no problem listening to some secular music, but I have a friend that will only listen to praise and worship music. His belief is that listening to secular music takes you away from the Lord. I need to honor that when I am around him and only listen to praise and worship music. My next life principle is Loyalty. Romans 12:10 states “Love one another with brotherly affection.
Outdo one another in showing honor. ” Loyalty is a word that we do not here in our fast paced, self-centered, impatient world. Loyalty is about giving time and energy to another person over the long haul. It’s about being committed to someone even when those tuff times come. I need to be loyal to God, my wife, and my children. I made a commitment to follow God and I need to honor that fully. I also made a commitment to my wife to love her through good times and bad times, and to be loyal only to her. I do not take my loyalty vow that I made to my wife on our wedding day lightly.
But I also realize that if I am not loyal to God there is no way that I would be able to be loyal to my wife. Generosity is also such an important life principle found in Romans. In Romans 12:13 Paul writes “contribute to the needs of the saints” This means that I need to give abundantly. There are a lot of needs in the body of Christ; some of them are money, time, energy, compassion, wisdom, friendship, and prayer. I need to be more willing to share more than just money with the saints, for me that is the easy thing to do. To share my time or friendship would mean that I would have to make myself vulnerable.
At the end of Romans 12:13 Paul wrote “practice hospitality. This is a principle that I fall really short on. Having a wife and five children I get so busy in life that I do not visit people like I should, like people from my church in the hospital. I don’t open my home like I should. There were times that we had teens coming to our church for a conference, I have a big house and I could have put some of them up, but I didn’t. Having friends over is like squeezing them in it probably makes them feel unwanted. We can’t live by ourselves, we need one other.
Hospitality provides a welcome space for our busy lives to relax in one another’s company. Empathy is another life principle that I would like to be better at. Romans 12:15 states “Rejoice with those that rejoice, weep with those that weep. ” We live in a very self-centered world and I am consumed by my own problems, or totally involved with my own happiness. Whether good or bad my thoughts are on me. As a Christian I need to be different, my thoughts need to be focused on other people. Just as Jesus focused his thoughts on me, he empathized with me, so I need to empathize with others.
I have to do a better job at putting myself in other people’s shoes. Ask myself if I was in that situation how that would make me feel. My next life principle comes from Romans 13:1-5 “let every person be subjected to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been institutes by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good, but too bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval.
For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bare the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. ” When Paul uses the word power he is referring to earthly governments. I am to submit to every legitimate earthly authority without bitterness. I should be able to do this because we know that God is working all things together for our good if we trust him.
This sounds so easy written on this page, but for me this is a real struggle. I find it hard to want to listen to people who have no clue who God really is and how He would want things done. I need lots of help with this principle. In Romans 12:14 Paul writes “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ” This might be the hardest principle of them all. What God is telling me through Paul is that no matter how bad someone might hurt me I need to continue to bless them. As much as my flesh rises up in me I should not be provoked to anger, or cursing.
When Paul used the word cursing I believe that he was denoting destruction, so when someone says something to hurt my feelings I have two choices, choice one I can curse them, wish destruction on them. Or the better response that I hope to master one day is I could bless them, pray that God would bless them. The last principle is found in Romans 12:1-2. Paul wrote “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable, and perfect. ” I would read this verse every day when I was first saved, this was my prayer that God would transform my drug addicted life, my pornography addicted life, and that my new life in Him would be acceptable. There are a few lessons that I have learned from these two verses. The first one is that presenting my body as a living sacrifice has to be voluntary; if it is not voluntary that is not a true offering.
Second I need to offer my entire being to God not just me eyes, or ears, but everything that I am must be offered to God. Third his mercy towards me should be the motivating factor that makes me want to devote me life to Him. And last it needs to be done now! I cannot delay on this issue. This is something that I need to do every morning. The book of Romans is such a powerful book full of directions on how to life a Christian life. My life principles that I wrote about are so important in my walk with God. I pray that one day I would be able to follow these more than I do today.
