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14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. ~ Romans 12:14-16
Today, we continue our study of the last section in the book of Romans, Romans 12-16. In this section the Apostle Paul is giving us a glimpse of what it looks like to be a servant. Whereas in Romans 12:3-13, Paul’s instructions are on how believers in Christ should relate to each other. In Romans 12:14-13:7, his commands concern how believers should relate to unbelievers. The life of the servant is the goal of the believer in Christ.
One might think that today's passage is the grouping of disconnected verses, but that is a mistake. For, you see, these verses lift up the concept of coming to the end of the self life. These attitudes that the Apostle accentuates in this last section of Romans reflect the disposition of the servant. Selflessness is the thread that ties all these verses together.
In v.14 of today's passage we read, "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse."
Taking the route of the Lord is always hard on and contrary to the flesh or the sinful desires that are yet within us, even though we have been forgiven. The servant of the Lord blesses those who persecute or curse him. The word "bless" is the Greek word from which we get our English word eulogy, which are the good words spoken in remembrance of a person who has died.
The Roman culture and environment made it quite difficult for the believer in Christ during the first century. The word "persecute" comes from the Greek word which means: "to pursue" or "to chase away." Over time it came to mean "to harass" or "to treat in an evil manner." In the New Testament it is used of "inflicting suffering on people who hold beliefs that were different. Hence the need to bless those who render persecution.
When we walk with the Lord, we must not be surprised by persecution from the world. Our fallen default mode always leads us to try to control that which we do not understand. But, when we come to know the God who longs to shed abroad His love in our hearts, we are positioned to realize the reality of this command in a given moment in our lives. As believers in Christ, we are equipped to do the impossible; to love our enemies. We can only bless our persecutors when we are more concerned about their eternal welfare than we are about our suffering. This is the depth that the culture of God brings to the soul of those humble enough to be defined by God.
In v.15 of today’s passage we read, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”
Once we have entered into a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, we are positioned to go from one spectrum to another, from rejoicing to weeping. The main thought accentuated here is that we have the heart of the Lord. This is the characteristic of the one who has come to know the Lord for himself and who walks with Him daily. When the disposition of those we find ourselves with enables us to adjust from one end of the spectrum to the other, we demonstrate the we are being defined by the One who went through hell to make us citizens of heaven.
In v.16 of today’s passage we read, “Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.”
This verse means think about everybody equally. It is a command to not be a respecter of persons. It means to have a heart for everyone just like the Lord Jesus when He came to this earth. With the Lord and His culture, there is no place for aristocracy among His people. God expects us to be at home with the lowly as well as the with the elite.
The word “humble” means “to get down on the ground with the lowly.” It doesn’t mean we ignore those who are high, it means we don’t pursue them only. It means we long to see everyone right with their Creator. This is what the Lord Jesus did with the woman caught in the act of adultery. When the religious leaders brought her to the Lord while He was teaching in the Temple, they threw her at the feet of the Lord. It was then that the Lord Jesus "stooped." He stooped in order to communicate this was why He came, to lift up the condemned.
In addition, we cannot be wise in our own understanding of life for when we do, we fail to be defined by the God of the Bible. We must be careful not to think that everything begins and ends with us. It was Solomon who wrote, “Lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”
