June 27: Romans 13:13-14
Key Verse: Romans 13:14
Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
Devotion:
Do you think you have changed at all after becoming a Christian? Are you still the same old you or do you feel like a different person? There are so many arguments about whether you should change or even if you can change after becoming a Christian; even in Paul’s letters he tries to encourage people to change from their old ways to the new ways. Our bibles try to encourage us to do what is right; that often will mean stopping doing things we used to do – not because other people tell you to do so, but because it is what you want to do to please God.
When we obey our parents, we know it will please them. When they tell us things we should not be doing and we change our ways to not do those things, we are showing our parents we are pleased to do what they think should be done and in doing so we show them we love them. But when Christ said we should love our neighbours as ourselves, He wanted us to start to think about what we do to others and in front of others. We don’t like it when people say or do things against us, so we should not do or say things against others… but it’s not as straight-forward as that… As we know, many of the things we do are based on our hearts as well as our minds. If we are not willing to change our hearts to love one another, then how will we ever change our physical to show that love?
If we are going to change, that change has to start in our hearts. That change has to start because we want it to. That change will happen, one way or the other. Why will it happen? Well, when we invite Christ back into our lives, we invite someone special in to live with us forever; by doing so, we now have someone loving, just and righteous with us at all times. If we continue to be our own old selves, we may just find we are troubling our guest every day through what we do in front of them. We need to think about our closest neighbour and that is the Holy Spirit who is with us always…
Points to Ponder:
How often do you do things to please others?
How often do you do things that you think will upset God?
Wednesday 27 Jun 2018
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