one step: Romans 12.5

 Let love be genuine.

What a magnificent challenge! The challenge comes in two parts: love and genuinely.

The word genuine here in the Greek refers to being unhypocritical.* This word is a mouthful, but it simply means that there must be no pretense.* As you may know, the Greek word for hypocritical originates from stage plays where actors wore masks to hide their true identities and expressions while acting.* Paul commands us as believers (along with the church in Rome during his time) to love genuinely, with no pretend and no pretense.

The Christians in Rome during his time must have been guilty of pretending to hold virtues that they did not have.* It’s a good thing that this doesn’t happen today!

One of the most frequent criticisms that I heard while growing up of the body of Christ is that it is made up of hypocrites - ingenuine pretenders who are full of pretense. My observation is that the world is full of hypocrites, no matter if they have received Jesus as their savior and Lord or not. The thing that the world seems to observe that we as Christians would do well to observe is that within the body of Christ, this should not be the case.

When Paul calls the Church to love genuinely, what is he asking?

When he writes the word “love” in this verse, Paul uses the word agape (there are other Greek words with different meanings/emphases that he could have chosen).* This is an interesting choice for while we as Christians may be somewhat accustomed to the word from sermons or coffee cups imprinted with the word, the Greek literature of the time used it very little.* So rare a word in the Greek, it was only seen in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) nineteen times.* Paul uses it seventy-five times in his writings found in the New Testament!

Why does Paul tell believers to love this way? It’s because this word contains a distinctive nature that the early church came to use to describe the unique love that they experienced from God.* We are to love others as uniquely and powerfully as He loves us! Furthermore, we are to do this genuinely! It must be real, so it must come from a real place in our hearts.

The love that God gave us, we are to pass along to others. According to Osborne,

love is selfless giving, with selflessness being the attitude and total giving the resulting action.*

God displayed this to us in giving His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

How do we love like this? How do we love genuinely? How do we avoid play-acting love? First, we must receive God’s love. Second… we must continue with the words of Paul in the verses that follow…

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to allow Him to evaluate the love that you have been giving. Perhaps God wants you to ask Him if you have received His love in all areas. Maybe God wants you to lay aside a mask that you have been hiding behind. Perhaps there is some pain that God wants to heal.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Kruse, C. G. (2012). Paul’s Letter to the Romans (D. A. Carson, Ed.; p. 475). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.
Osborne, G. R. (2004). Romans (pp. 330). InterVarsity Press.
Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (pp. 443). W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.
Moo, D. J. (2000). Romans (p. 409). Zondervan Publishing House.

one step: Romans 12.4

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Imagine that you lost function in your arm, a leg, your left eye, and two major organs; the losses were such that less than half of your body functioned.* I would suppose that you would be in the ICU of the hospital in need of great care. This is the state of many church communities.*

According to Paul, the body of Christ is a body comprised of differing parts with differing functions. His admonishment: function. Paul tells the church in Rome (and us as readers of God’s Word) to use the gifts that God has given them to play the part that only they can play in the body of Christ. The metaphor leads us to understand that we cannot play one another’s roles, nor can the body function well without each member doing their part.*

As Osborne points out from this passage:

(1) we all have gifts

(2) the gifts vary among us

(3) all gifts come from God*

This passage causes me to wonder: why would some part of the body not engage if they are gifted from God in a special way? Why would a member of Christ’s body not use the gift that He gave them for the body?

Borrowing from Paul’s bodily member metaphor, the only times that I have seen body parts cease function is under circumstances of unhealthiness/sickness or injury. Unlike human body parts, we may decline engaging in our own gifting because we are jealous of someone else’s, but let’s leave that discussion for another time.

For now, let us consider hurt and sickness. How many times have you been hurt in church? How often would you look at your own heart and feel that it was sick? Hurt and unhealth (un-forgiveness, bitterness, offense, etc) will hold us back from engaging in the church body with all that God has gifted us.

Why would Paul need to tell those with gifts of mercy to serve cheerfully? Can you imagine someone providing care to the sick or needy with an angry or gloomy disposition? Perhaps they served for so long and never received what they were hoping to receive: a thank you. Maybe you have experienced this. Why would Paul need to tell leaders to lead with zeal? Can you imagine an unenthusiastic leader who no longer bleeds passion? Perhaps they have been questioned and thwarted and betrayed so many times that they are deflated. Maybe you have experienced this. Why would Paul need to tell those who teach to teach? Can you imagine a teacher who has nothing to say? Perhaps others have failed to listen and apply instruction for so long that they have given up. Rather than keep going with this, please let me encourage you:

God has given you a gift for the body of Christ to function well. Though you may be hurt or sick in your heart, though you may want to retreat from community to protect yourself, the church needs you.

God has healing for you. God has comfort for you. Despite your experience, that healing and comfort may just come through the community of God… they are gifted for it. While the church needs you, you also need the church.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to find healing by running to God and His body rather than away from it. Maybe today God wants you to reengage with who you are and the gifts that He gave you for the body of Christ. Maybe today God wants to breathe new life into your physical body.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Kruse, C. G. (2012). Paul’s Letter to the Romans (D. A. Carson, Ed.; p. 469–474). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.
Osborne, G. R. (2004). Romans (pp. 322–329). InterVarsity Press.
Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (pp. 438–443). W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.
Moo, D. J. (2000). Romans (p. 407). Zondervan Publishing House.

one step: water break

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
Isaiah 11:1-3a

The One Step Daily Devotional is intended to provide just one step each day for your journey with God. Every journey requires water breaks. Here is a water break for you.

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The mystery of Christ Jesus exists in part in the interplay between the reality that He was fully God and fully man. For example, in the person of Jesus we find the eternal Son of God (unbound by time) who was born as a baby through the womb of a limited, mortal woman at a specific time in history. Fully God and fully man.

Luke 2:52 tells us that Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. How does a limitless, all-knowing being increase in wisdom? Fully God and fully man.

Jesus limited Himself to come to earth to save humanity from the penalty of sin (Philippians 2:4-11). Fully God and fully man.

Understanding this dynamic, we see that the fully God and fully man Jesus in Luke 2:52 feared God. How do we know? Because the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God (Proverbs 9:10). Furthermore, Isaiah 11 prophecies about Jesus the Messiah and includes this: And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

Why would Jesus fear God? Was Jesus afraid that God would punish Him for doing wrong in the same way that we sometimes understand fearing God? No. Jesus did no wrong.

The fear of God that Jesus walked in looked like a posture that aligned Him to do nothing and say nothing to distance Himself from God. All that Jesus did and said was done to please His Father (John 8:29). Jesus went so far as to only say what His Father in Heaven said (John 12:49-50) and only did what He saw His Father in Heaven do (John 5:19).

So how did Jesus fear God? He feared God in the same way that we should.

Fear Defined: a heightened sense of awareness to the dynamic of relationship between two beings or things understanding the supreme superiority of the one over the other to impact the other’s future in a real and powerful way.*

Jesus walked His life continually aware of how His words and actions impacted His relational proximity (sense of closeness or distance) to God the Father. He understood that His future was completely and solely in God the Father’s hands and no one else’s.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to recognize that your future is completely and solely in God’s hands. Perhaps today God wants you to make decisions through the filter of, “how will this impact my relational proximity to God?” Maybe today God wants you to fear Him.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a water break… we all get thirsty.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Gilmore, Benjamin. Fear, No More: Fear God Evermore. Bedford: Burkhart Books. 2019.

one step: Romans 12.3

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Romans 12:1-2 combined with verses 3-8 make it clear that we cannot fully “renew our minds” without the active help of other believers.* I cannot understand Scripture, receive prayer, observe others as examples, or live as a disciple of Christ apart from others.* Without others, blind spots will remain in me (or even grow).* Thus, I must be a part of Christian community.

Furthermore, God requires me to engage in community to aid in its growth.* As a believer, I am under obligation to my Lord to use my gifts to serve His people.* Each member of the community has something that the community needs, and so do I.

Paul explains in Romans 12:3 that arrogance is an enemy of community.* Essential to the word community is the word unity.* Though the community of Christ is diverse, it’s connected.* The diversity of the body of Christ is intentional. God intended that I lack some gifts that you have and that you lack some gifts that I have. In this strategy, God creates a community that need each other and Him (as the source of these gifts). The unity of the community comes from these common needs.

This reality leads to Paul’s command not to think of yourself higher than others (the enemy of unity and thus community).* His instructions to be of sober judgement of oneself implies that we should see ourselves as we actually are.

This point is really important: see yourself as you actually are. Many of us see ourselves as greater than we are, looking down at others. While others of us see ourselves as much less than we actually are, looking down on ourselves and belittling our own gifting. Sometimes we drift between the two in different situations or seasons of life.

So how do we view ourselves accurately? Paul explains that the measure we must use for ourselves is the faith that God has assigned to us. Scholars disagree on the actual meaning of this phrase (with good arguments for various views), but several agree that the measurement is the faith common to all.* Meaning, we all have been given the faith and grace of God for our particular gifting. Though the gifts differ (as we will see in verses 4-8), the measure of faith assigned (via grace) is the same.* We must recognize that each gift is special in God’s eyes, and that He is the source of the gift and what we need to exercise the gift.*

Paul’s words suggest that when we rightly value ourselves and others, we will zealously use our gifts in humility.*

C.S. Lewis tells us that humility isn’t going around pretending you are less than you are, but humility is being as excited about the accomplishments and gifts of others as if they were one’s own accomplishments and gifts.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to get excited about your gifts! Perhaps God wants you to encourage and celebrate the gifts in those around you. Maybe God wants you to repent for a wrong estimation of yourself (too high or low). Perhaps God wants you to repent for a wrong estimation of others (too high or low). Maybe God wants you to use your gift today for the body of Christ.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Kruse, C. G. (2012). Paul’s Letter to the Romans (D. A. Carson, Ed.; p. 467–469). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.
Osborne, G. R. (2004). Romans (pp. 322–324). InterVarsity Press.
Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (pp. 437–438). W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.
Moo, D. J. (2000). Romans (p. 401-403, 407). Zondervan Publishing House.

one step: Romans 12.2

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.

It’s nice when things just come to you, isn’t it? You order at a sit-down restaurant, and it just comes to you. You don’t have to make the food yourself, nor do you have to go get it. If you go to a really nice restaurant and sit at the chef’s table, you don’t even have to choose what to eat. You get whatever comes to you from the chef, and it’s usually amazing.

Sadly, this beautiful picture (that is making me hungry) doesn’t apply to spiritual transformation. If we sit back and passively receive whatever comes to us, we will not receive what is good. In fact, Paul tell us us that positive transformation requires an active choice to engage in the process of spiritual growth.* Note the word process. The transformation that we desire in our lives does not come in a light-switch manner (this should ease the frustration of the feeling of “why can’t I just change already?!”). The transformation that God desires comes with intentional partnership with the Holy Spirit to engage first in our mind (the ignition-place of spiritual transformation).* This mind-change then plays our in our behaviors.*

This is all contrast to the passive, consumer mentality that receives whatever comes to it. What comes to us without effort? The patterns of this world. Like a mold crushing around us, attempting to make us fit, the conformation of this world comes to those who do not resist it and do not engage with the transformation that God calls us to.*

Isn’t it interesting that God does not call us to combat conforming to this world with rebellion. No where does God ask us to stand up and yell in the face of the world, “I will not be like you.” No, He offers us transformation by the renewal of our mind as a counter to conforming. Saying “no, I will not be like you” is not enough; we must choose the process of God.

When we choose transformation by the renewal of the mind, we can discern the will of God for our lives… and it’s good and acceptable and perfect (complete).*

Conforming to this world does not always look like mirroring the worst pictures of humanity that you see on tv. Conforming to this world might just look like continuing to play a role in the patterns of your family without thinking about whether they are pleasing to God or not. Conforming to this world might just look like continuing to respond in the same way to the same situations without thinking about whether it’s God’s best for you. Conforming to this world looks like doing what comes naturally. It’s time to be supernatural; it’s time to be transformed.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to say “yes” to His transformation process. Perhaps today God wants you to stop conforming. Maybe today God wants you to change your pattern of resistance to this world from just a combative “no” to this world to include an engaging “yes” to Him.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

*Kruse, C. G. (2012). Paul’s Letter to the Romans (D. A. Carson, Ed.; p. 463-466). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.
Osborne, G. R. (2004). Romans (pp. 320–322). InterVarsity Press.
Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (pp. 432–434). W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.
Moo, D. J. (2000). Romans (p. 395-396, 398–399). Zondervan Publishing House.