|
Message from Your Rector
A Love That Looks Like Jesus
Romans 12:9–21 reads like a checklist for Christian living, but it is much more than a list of spiritual instructions. It is a portrait of love with its sleeves rolled up. Paul begins simply: “Let love be genuine.” From there, he shows us what genuine love looks like in everyday life—holding fast to what is good, honoring one another, serving with zeal, rejoicing in hope, persevering in prayer, practicing hospitality, blessing those who hurt us, and overcoming evil with good.
What is striking about this passage is how practical Paul becomes. Love is not presented as a feeling we wait to experience. It is a way of life we choose to practice. It shows up in how we speak, how we listen, how we respond when we are wronged, and how we care for those in need. Genuine love is not sentimental or shallow. It hates what is evil and clings to what is good. It has both tenderness and backbone. It is compassionate without being careless, humble without being weak, and patient without giving up.
Paul’s words also remind us that Christian love is not reserved only for the people who are easy to love. “Bless those who persecute you,” he writes. “Do not repay anyone evil for evil.” That may be one of the hardest teachings in Scripture because it touches the places where we most want to defend ourselves, keep score, or strike back. Yet Paul does not ask us to pretend evil is harmless. Instead, he invites us to entrust justice to God and to refuse letting bitterness shape our hearts. To overcome evil with good is not passive surrender; it is active faith. It is choosing not to let another person’s wrong become the pattern for our own behavior.
There is also a beautiful call to community in this passage. “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” These words ask us to step outside ourselves and enter honestly into the joys and sorrows of others. In a world that often encourages comparison, Paul calls us to compassion. We are not meant to compete with another person’s joy or avoid another person’s pain. We are meant to share life together, honoring each person as a beloved child of God.
For our daily lives, Romans 12:9–21 gives us a simple but challenging question: What would love do here? What would love do in this conversation, in this disagreement, in this family situation, in this parish meeting, in this moment of frustration or disappointment? Sometimes love will speak the truth. Sometimes it will listen quietly. Sometimes it will forgive. Sometimes it will bring a meal, make a phone call, write a note, or pray when there are no words left. Genuine love usually does not need a spotlight. It simply keeps showing up.
Paul ends with a line worth carrying into every week: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” We cannot control every hardship, conflict, or injustice we encounter. But by God’s grace, we can decide what kind of people we will become in the midst of them. Romans 12 invites us to become people whose love is sincere, whose hope is steady, whose prayers are persistent, and whose goodness reflects the heart of Christ.
May God continue to Bless our Nation and our Church.
Blessings,
Fr. Jim+
| 
