Romans 12:9-16 is the focus for this week…

9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. ¹⁰ Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. ¹¹ Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. ¹² Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. ¹³ When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. ¹⁵ Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!

Oy. Can I start making a list on where I fall short on the exhortations from this passage?

No. Not productive. It’s not about self-flagellation, it’s about being intentional for the places and spaces where I can exercise this spiritual “muscle.”

It is hard, especially when you perceive that someone is being unfair, unkind or arbitrary, to “really love” someone. It’s hard to “honor” them. Yet I think the key to being able to achieve some semblance of living out God’s love is in the very last phrase –

“…don’t think you know it all!”

It’s that quality of humility, of teachableness, of intentional caring and serving that I want to reflect more clearly. It’s remembering that I need to show I am the Face and hands of God. One without the other doesn’t cut it. It makes a caricature out of Christianity instead of a living, breathing example of God. False humility is quickly picked up by those who observe and report on faith in life, as well it should be.

So if I am going to live in a way that honors the God I claim to serve, then I’m going to keep that little verse fragment in my hip pocket…

“…don’t think you know it all!”

Amen.