Join us as we explore Romans Chapter 12 and its profound impact on our daily lives. Our host shares journal entries that bring to light the core principles of Christian living—humility, service, and love. Listen as we discuss how spiritual gifts shape our contributions to the faith community and learn practical applications for showing honor, practicing humility, and maintaining harmony in our relationships. Dive deep into this spiritual journey with insights from decades of personal reflections.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
SPEAKER 01 :
Today we are in Romans chapter 12. Our guest reader, Craig Warner, Executive Director of the Gideons International, will read the 21 verses of Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12.
SPEAKER 03 :
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. 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. 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 of one 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. Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil. Hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal. Be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haunty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honourable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 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. 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. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, we’re going to start today with a wonderful journal entry from 1994. Wow, it was my 39th birthday, and guess where I was? Maui. My journal entry said, left at 8.30 in the morning for Los Angeles, then on to Hawaii, going for a business conference, but went early. We had dinner at our hotel, the Maui Intercontinental Hotel. Out on a patio watching the sun drop into the Pacific Ocean. Gorgeous. Beautiful. What a birthday. What a blessing. And of course, very special because I was with Terry, my helpmate, my wife. The next day when I actually did read Romans chapter 12, I had this journal entry. Up before the sun came up in Maui, because of time difference of four to five hours, sitting out on a patio looking out over the ocean through the palm trees as the sky begins to lighten, the mist burned away and the sky turns pink with a new day. It’s easy to praise God in such a setting as this. And then out on that patio, I read Romans chapter 12. And I focused on these things. Great words, how to act. such as cling to what is good, honor one another, devoted to prayer, practice hospitality, bless and curse not, don’t be haughty, respect what is right, be at peace with all men, overcome evil with good. And next to it I wrote, oh, to live here. And I presume I meant in Romans chapter 12, not in Maui. But, I mean, it was a difficult choice, wasn’t it? But what great words in Romans chapter 12, how to live this Christian life. In 2001, when I read Romans 12, I highlighted one verse, and that was verse 6. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them, and I underlined, let us use them. In 2013, I had a little bit more to write about Romans 12. I started with verse 1 when I wrote, I hope I have done this. I have given my life to God for His use. And then verse 2, I also have tried to do this, not conform to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of my mind every day in the Word of God. Verse 3, remain humble. And then I wrote about gifting. I think I have prophecy and leadership. I should lead with zeal. And then I wrote, if possible, means I may not be at peace with everyone, but I try to be on my part. That’s verse 18. And then I wrote, behavior is important as Christians. Be humble. Verse 3, have sober judgment, genuine love. Verse 9, honor. Verse 10, hope, patience. Verse 12, help people in need. Hospitality. Verse 13, bless others. Verse 14, live in harmony. Verse 16, peaceful. Verse 18, overcome evil with good. Verse 21. So in various years, I’ve wrote a laundry list of things that we can do as Christians to live out this Christian life. So let’s go back through this wonderful chapter together. Verse 1 is one of these power verses in Scripture. 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, or in your Bible it might say, which is your reasonable service. For all that Jesus has done for us, what do we have to offer back to him? We have ourselves, and that’s what this verse says. Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. It is not too much to ask from God to give our lives back to him. He’s the one who breathed life in us in the first place. Verse two, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Oh, for most of us, this is difficult. We’d love to not be conformed to this world. We’d love to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. And I mentioned in my journal, the way to do that is to stay in his word. It makes sense, doesn’t it, that what we fill our mind with is what we will be. It’s what we think about. It is who we become. So let’s renew our mind by staying in God’s Word daily. Verse 3 says not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. And so in this Christian life, it’s important to remain humble. Staying in his word and staying close to the Lord keeps us humble. And then Paul laundry lists a bunch of spiritual gifts that we have. As one body, we all have different gifts. And he mentions several of them. And as I go through these, you might think, what is your spiritual gift? One he mentions is prophecy. Another is service. Another is teaching. Another is exhortation. Another is leading and another is mercy. And another is giving or generosity. I mentioned in my journal that I thought I had the gifts of prophecy and leadership. Now that doesn’t mean prophecy meaning being prophetic. Prophecy to me means that one who speaks truth, who shares things that other people don’t want to share. When you think about the prophets, They had to give God’s message to people even though it was uncomfortable. And so I think that’s what prophecy means to me. It’s a gift of discernment and communication. But which of these spiritual gifts touches you the most? Which one do you think God has endued you with? Regardless of our gifts, verse 9 says, “…let love be genuine. Love one another with brotherly affection.” So as Christians, we should be loving. We should be examples of love. The verse goes on to say, outdo one another in showing honor. So as Christians, we are to honor all people. Verse 11 says, Be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Are you doing that? Are you serving the Lord? Verse 12 tells us to be patient in tribulation. Whoa, that’s one that’s a little tough on me. I hope I can get better at being patient when things aren’t going well. And the verse kind of tells me how. It says rejoice in hope and be constant in prayer. Those two things would help me probably be more patient in tribulation. Verse 16 says live in harmony with one another. So am I the cause of harmony or discontent in various relationships in my life? The verse also tells me never be wise in your own sight. And that goes back to remaining humble. And the last few verses remind us to live peaceably with everybody. Although we’re tempted, we don’t have to get even with people. We don’t have to get right with people. Because vengeance is mine, says the Lord. I heard a pastor recently say, I can be right or I can be happy. I choose to be happy. So as difficult as it is, leave revenge to the Lord. And finally, the chapter ends with this verse. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. There are many, many principles to live by in this chapter. May I encourage you to listen again to the podcast or get your Bible out and read this chapter and select one of those characteristics that God would like you to focus on and make that your application today. Lord, for me, it’s to help me be genuine in love, to love one another with brotherly affection. Help me be more loving as a Christian, less judgmental, and by exercising love, live peaceably with others. Lord, you know I’m thinking about some particular relationships right now. So help me express love in the midst of some challenging relationships. And by doing so, help me live in harmony with one another. In your name I pray. Amen. All of the Ad Bible radio programs are available to you in writing. We transcribed all of Ad Bible into an 11-book series called Day by Day Through the Bible, and we did it in a unique way by authors of the Bible. You can get the complete set or a book at a time at our website, EzraProject.net. For example, there are the writings of Moses, the writings of Solomon, the writings of the minor prophets, and the writings of the major prophets, the writings of the Old Testament historical books, and the writings of Old Testament leaders. Covering the New Testament, we have the writings of Matthew and Luke, the writings of John, the writings of Paul, and the writings of Mark, Peter, James, Jude, and Hebrews. So this 11-book series covers all 66 books of the Bible, chapter by chapter. So if the radio program was on 1 Samuel, you would find the written version in day by day through the Bible, the writings of Old Testament historical books. If the radio program is covering Daniel or Jonah, you would find all the minor prophets in the writings of the minor prophets. But say you’re studying the Gospel of John in your own personal quiet time. You can find our coverage of John’s gospel in the writings of John, which includes not just his gospel, but other writings like 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John and Revelation. Or, you are going to be reading one of Paul’s epistles. You can find them all in the writings of Paul. Our Day by Day through the Bible series is a tremendous resource as you read and study any book of the Bible. It will deepen your understanding of God’s Word and enhance your personal quiet time because each book breaks down the passage with comments from my personal Bible reading journals, offers life applications, and prayers related to the passage. If you want more from your time in God’s Word, visit EzraProject.net and try one of our day-by-day through the Bible devotional books. Any of the 11 books are a great place to start or get the full set to use wherever you are in the Bible today or wherever you are heading in your Bible reading. I know you’re going to enjoy it.
