Romans 1:1-15 (ESV)
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
Paul looked forward to being with the Christians in Rome. Paul wanted to encourage them, but he too wanted to encouraged by being with them. Can you imagine the great challenges that face those who choose to be Christians in Rome. Many in the Roman government and in Rome thought of Christians as trouble makers because they did not know the truth about Christianity. When something bad would happen the Roman citizens would blame the Christians because they would not worship the local gods and this made the Romans feel that the gods were punishing them because the Christians would not appease them. Yet in the capital of Rome, under persecution, the church grew. Paul prayed for the brethren at Rome and was thankful for the example of their faith. Paul noted that their faith was "proclaimed in all the world".
Our example can be a great encouragement to others. We don't suffer the persecution that Christians suffered, but we are looked down upon by many because we will voice moral wrongs and stand up for truth. The book of Romans addresses how we can be in the world, but not of the World. There are many things for us to think about our example and Christian life in this world as we study Romans. We should be thankful that we know Christ. We should be thankful we can be counted as Christians. We should be thankful for the examples of others and the encourage they provide in our life and we should seek to be an encourage to others as they seek to follow after Christ.
Let us Pray that we may encourage others and they we will have strong Christians in our life that will encourage us.
Let us Pray that are faith will be seen and that it will lead others to Christ.
Let us Pray that we will let God use us in the harvest. May we seek lost souls. May we preach and teach the word by our example and action.
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