Romans 15
1 We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. 2 We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. 3 For even Christ didn’t live to please himself. As the Scriptures say, “The insults of those who insult you, O God, have fallen on me.”[a] 4 Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.
5 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. 6 Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory. 8 Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews[b] to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors. 9 He also came so that the Gentiles might give glory to God for his mercies to them. That is what the psalmist meant when he wrote:
“For this, I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing praises to your name.”[c]
10 And in another place it is written,
“Rejoice with his people,
you Gentiles.”[d]
11 And yet again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles.
Praise him, all you people of the earth.”[e]
12 And in another place Isaiah said,
“The heir to David’s throne[f] will come,
and he will rule over the Gentiles.
They will place their hope on him.”[g]
13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
14 I am fully convinced, my dear brothers and sisters,[h] that you are full of goodness. You know these things so well you can teach each other all about them. 15 Even so, I have been bold enough to write about some of these points, knowing that all you need is this reminder. For by God’s grace, 16 I am a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God, made holy by the Holy Spirit. 17 So I have reason to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God. 18 Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I worked among them. 19 They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit.[i] In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum.[j]
20 My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else. 21 I have been following the plan spoken of in the Scriptures, where it says,
“Those who have never been told about him will see,
and those who have never heard of him will understand.”[k]
22 In fact, my visit to you has been delayed so long because I have been preaching in these places.
23 But now I have finished my work in these regions, and after all these long years of waiting, I am eager to visit you. 24 I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off in Rome. And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, you can provide for my journey.
25 But before I come, I must go to Jerusalem to take a gift to the believers[l] there. 26 For you see, the believers in Macedonia and Achaia[m] have eagerly taken up an offering for the poor among the believers in Jerusalem. 27 They were glad to do this because they feel they owe a real debt to them. Since the Gentiles received the spiritual blessings of the Good News from the believers in Jerusalem, they feel the least they can do in return is to help them financially. 28 As soon as I have delivered this money and completed this good deed of theirs, I will come to see you on my way to Spain. 29 And I am sure that when I come, Christ will richly bless our time together.
30 Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to join in my struggle by praying to God for me. Do this because of your love for me, given to you by the Holy Spirit. 31 Pray that I will be rescued from those in Judea who refuse to obey God. Pray also that the believers there will be willing to accept the donation[n] I am taking to Jerusalem. 32 Then, by the will of God, I will be able to come to you with a joyful heart, and we will be an encouragement to each other.
33 And now may God, who gives us his peace, be with you all. Amen.
The Trait
Paul was gifted. He was a gifted writer, preacher, and teacher. These were gifts from God. But, another gift that he was given highly influenced the tools of his ministry. That would be the gift of humility.
Paul knew Jesus as Lord. Paul walked with Christ in a morning in, and morning out relationship. By this, he knew Jesus' greatest traits. He knew that Jesus was a servant. He was aware that Jesus did not boast about His works, but that he was humble in all that He did. Paul took this as an example, and followed it.
Verses 1 through 5 scream this. Paul writes that this life is not about us, and supports that with the fact that Jesus even denied self.
We must put others first. I struggle with this. I struggle with selfishness and pride. I will admit that my selfishness gets in the way often. Our relationships cannot work with selfish hearts included. For a relationship to work, we must look out for the other persons' best interest. This is tough, but it is included in the call of Christ.
We see Jesus putting us first often. The most obvious example is the cross. We should have died. It was our debt to pay. But, Jesus, as a humble servant, gave himself for us. He put aside His wants and did what was best for us, even though we did not deserve it.
If the King of the universe did this, how much lower should we make ourselves? We must remember, that as followers of Christ, we have no rights. We traded our rights in for Jesus and a cross. Therefore, we are above nothing but Hell, and we deserve that. By the grace of God, Jesus took our punishment. This gives us an opportunity to love and serve others like He served us.
The Beauty of It All
Verses 5 and 6 paint a beautiful picture. Can you see it? All of God's children standing in harmony, with one voice, praising the Father. Don't you want to be a part of that? We have this awesome privilege. If we could stop being so critical, and have love for one another, we could sing a united song to the Father. Don't miss it.
Paul's Ambition
Paul's writings say a lot about his character. Starting in verse 14, Paul writes about his goals and motivations. If you've been reading through Romans, it's obvious that Paul's goal was to honor God. His goal was to give God glory. But, how would he do that? He would humbly remind the Romans to serve Christ. Stop there? I think not. He goes on to write about his love for reaching those who have never heard the good news.
What pushes you? Does the need for sharing the Gospel even cross your mind? So often, we get caught up in our own little lives and we forget about the necessity of evangelism. We forget that we live in a lost world. Does this concern you?
I had a conversation with my 8 year old brother about this very thing today. I mentioned telling others about Jesus and he began to laugh. This is a little boy who has grown up in a Southern Baptist Church. How does he not know about the deep need for evangelizing? I will take partial blame. We should have had this talk a long time ago. I explained to him that we live in a lost world, full of people going to hell, and that they should be a top priority. Are lost people just an after-thought? When is the last time you shared Jesus with someone?
Challenge: Put others first. Do so by telling them about Jesus.
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