Romans 12

1. Dear brothers and sisters, I beg you to give your bodies to God because of what He has done for you. Let your eyes, ears, feet, and hands be a living, set–apart sacrifice—that He can accept. This is the true way to worship Him.

God always wanted living sacrifices not dead ones. An example would be a sacrifice of praise. We can put anger or selfishness on the altar as a living sacrifice of praise. How can a sacrifice stay alive? By daily living in a way that God can accept.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and humble heart Psalms 51:17

To obey is better than sacrifice. 1 Samuel 15:22

2. Do not copy the things of this world, but let God shape you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

The original language gives the idea that it makes no sense if you do not offer yourselves to God this way. Changing the way you think means to reset and guard your thoughts and reject the thoughts of the devil. 2 Corinthians 10:5

3. Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Do not think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.

Sometimes the devil will come to you and tell you that you have done some good things. Remind yourself that you should not think about yourself more highly than you should.

4 – 5

Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.

And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 1 Corinthians 12:16

6. In His grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.

Ephesians 4 shows us the leaders of the church. Romans 12 shows us how each one of us sees something different that needs to be done in the church. 1 Corinthians 12 shows us how beautiful it can be when each one of us uses our gift through a local ministry in the correct way.

People who are not mature in the gift of prophecy see things as only black or white. They sometimes are so strong against evil that they are very hard on people who do not see what they see. We can see Elijah's personality as a person with the gift of prophecy. 2 Kings 1:12

7. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, study to be clear in what you are teaching.

A real servant does not only do his job but he does more than that the job requires. If he washes your car, he also shines it. If he washes the dishes, he also puts them away. We can see Rebecca as a person with the gift of serving. Rebecca said, “Drink, and I will water your camels also.” Genesis 24:46

In the same way, when you obey Me you should say, “We are unworthy servants who have only done we are supposed to do.” Luke 17:10

A real teacher studies so that he can be very accurate in what he is teaching. He is thinking more about being very careful about what he is teaching instead of bragging about what he knows. We can see Daniel as a person with the gift of teaching as he did his best to be very clear in what he was sharing. Daniel 9:2

8. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing mercy to others, do it gladly.

The original language for the gift of encouragement says, "to walk next to someone and talk with them." The one who encourages others says, "I will walk through this with you. Let us talk about it." We can see Barnabus as a person who was called the “Son of Encouragement.” Acts 4:36

A person with the gift of giving is very careful how he gives. He checks to see what the real need is and he tries to get the most out of his money. We can see Barzillai as a person with the gift of giving.

The gift of leadership comes up with a plan to get a job done. If nobody else will help he will do it himself. We can see Joseph and Nehemiah as a men with the gift of leading.

The gift of mercy balances out the other gifts. This person says, "I know how you feel, I had the same thing happen to me." We can see the Good Samaritan as a person with the gift of mercy as he felt bad for the man who was robbed and treated him the way he would want to be treated.

9 – 10

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Be glued to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.

It is interesting to compare verses 6–8 with verses 9– 15 and see how they can teach us more about each gift. Sometimes a person with the gift of prophecy does not speak in a way that shows love. The original language says not to offer fake love.

11. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.

If we apply this to the gift of teaching, the teacher has to work hard to make sure that he is speaking the words of God are not his own words.

12. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.

If we apply this to the gift of encouragement we will see that the ones with this gift sometimes get discouraged because the one they are trying to help is not ready to listen.

13. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

If we apply this to the gift of giving we can see that those with this gift need God's help so that they know when to give, and when to wait for the witness of the Spirit.

14. Bless those who persecute you. Do not curse them; pray that God will bless them.

If we apply this to the gift of leading we can see that people do not like to be told what to do and will not listen to a leader if he is not careful how he is leading. Also, a leader should not fight back against his enemies but do something that blesses them. Remember that curses keep on going until they are broken.

15. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep.

If we apply this to the gift mercy we see that they not only feel sorry for people but are glad when things are going well for others.

16. Live in harmony with each other. Do not be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

It is important to see that we are not supposed to live as if we do not need to do all of these things. For example, we do not say, “Let someone else give. I do not have the gift of giving." A mature Christian wants to practice all of these gifts and build them into his life. The original language says, “Do not panic in your mind."

17 – 19

Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back, says the LORD.”

It is a fact that anger is a red flag that says, "I have a right to something and somebody is trying to take away from me!" We are following the Lord Jesus, and we give up the things that we think we have a right to for His sake."

The original language says, “Get out of the way of a spirit of anger." God is saying, “I will take responsibility for any punishment that needs to be done to your enemies.”

20. Instead, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on his conscience.”

The original language can give the idea of, “You will shine a light on his head.”

21. Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

Sometimes we say, "If nobody else cares, why should I care?" 2 Chronicles 16:9