Journal

Please use one of the prompts below to get your journaling started.

• Explore your fears and what’s behind them.
• Write about a relational conflict you are experiencing.
• List out all that you are grateful for.
• Recall a significant reaction, conversation or event.

• Here are some tools to help you with the devotional journal:
  • A Guide to Journaling & Prayer
  • A Guide to Self-Reflection
  • A Chart to help articulate feelings

Romans 12 Commentary

Bible Text: Romans 12:9-21 (ESV)

⁹ Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. ¹⁰ Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. ¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. ¹⁸ If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. ¹⁹ Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” ²⁰ To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Reflection Questions

Romans 12:9-21

• Read this passage several times and meditate on the life that I am called to live. Imagine a church community seriously carrying out these commands. Pray for our church to become this kind of community and for my part in making that a reality.  Is there a truth that God is particularly convicting me of based on this passage? 
• How is it possible to “not be slothful in zeal” but “fervent in spirit, serv[ing] the Lord?” What is the relationship between spiritual fervor and the command, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer?”
• What would it mean to become “overcome by evil”?  What practical approach is suggested by the exhortation to “not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good?”  Is there some area of life in which I can put this into practice?

Prayer