Praise the Lord! God is good! Our life so far proves that God is trustworthy and reliable in and through every life-circumstance. God is trustworthy because He remains unchanging (Psalm 102:27; Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8) while the world around us changes so quick and fast from one mode to another. Despite all the visible and invisible changes that take place in and around us, we can experience ourselves and observe in others’ life that God remains the same and faithful. Yet, as days goes by, even many who are called by His name change according to the changes that takes place around them and become more and more faithless. Remember, even if, we, who are called by His name, become faithless, He cannot become like one of us as He cannot change Himself or deny Himself, as Apostle Paul stated: If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself (2 Timothy 2:13). God’s faithfulness, loving kindness, and unchanging nature keep us alive and blessed!

The Lord has blessed us with a practical Scripture passage for our SftW meditation this week, which is taken from Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Romans 12:9-18 (mentioned above). Here, Apostle Paul talks about love and encourage believers to love and honor one another and serve Lord Jesus Christ with a passion that emerges from the love God has for us, as God demonstrated His love for us through the propitiatory sacrifice of His One and only begotten Son Jesus Christ on the cross, as Apostle Paul reminded the believers in Rome, saying: God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Paul being a persecutor of those who are following Christ personally experienced the care and love of the glorified Christ while he had an encounter with Him near the city of Damascus (Acts 9:1-20). Ever since Paul experienced the love of Christ following his encounter with Him, he began to exhort and encourage believers to love God wholeheartedly, love fellow-believers and others sincerely, respect and honor one another, and serve the Lord faithfully. As a faithful follower of Christ, we are called, first of all, to love the Lord our God genuinely, then to love our family, love the family of God, and everyone else around us in this world. When we claim that we love God and others, our love for God and others should not be limited as just a heart’s feeling or just with words but we need to express it through our approach and through our actions. Prior to His arrest and crucifixion, Jesus said to His followers, especially to His disciples, to love one another, as it is mentioned: A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another (John 13:34-35). In the light of Christ’s love for him and as an ardent apostle of Christ, Paul gave the believers in Rome the following instructions, as it is mentioned in Romans 12:9-18 …

• • Believers’ love must be sincere (12:9a)
  • Believers should hate what is evil (12:9b)
  • Believers must cling to what is good (12:9c)
  • Believers must be devoted to one another in love (12:10a)
  • Believers must honor other believers above themselves (12:10b)
  • Believers must never be lacking in zeal (12:11a)
  • Believers must keep their spiritual fervor (12:11b)
  • Believers must serve the Lord faithfully (12:11c)
  • Believers need to be joyful in hope (12:12a)
  • Believers need to be patient in affliction (12:12b)
  • Believers need to be faithful in prayer (12:12c)
  • Believers must share with the Lord’s people who are in need (12:13a)
  • Believers must practice hospitality (12:13b)
  • Believers must bless those who persecute them (12:14a)
  • Believers must bless and should not curse (12:14b)
  • Believers must rejoice with those who rejoice (12:15a)
  • Believers need to mourn with those who mourn (12:15b)
  • Believers must live in harmony with one another (12:16a)
  • Believers should not be proud (12:16b)
  • Believers must be willing to associate with people of low position (12:16c)
  • Believers should not be conceited (12:16d)
  • Believers should not repay anyone evil for evil (12:17a)
  • Believers need to be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone (12:17b)
  • Believers must live at peace with everyone (12:18)

As we have seen above, Apostle Paul was focusing on exhorting the believers in Rome as well as the believers of all time to maintain genuine fellowship with God, keep up with the enthusiasm in serving the Lord our God, have a sincere relationship with one another, help one another in our needs whatever it might be [that includes material and spiritual needs], keep up with a passionate prayer life, have a joyful hope regarding the life with God in eternity, and everything else to live a life worthy of His call. As we conclude this week’s SftW meditation, the best thing we can do as God’s dear children is that love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength and love our neighbor as ourselves as there is no commandment greater than these (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37-39; Mark 2:30-31; Luke 10:27). Let us make our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus as the role model in our life, and the Holy Spirit will enable us to fulfill God’s purpose in and through our life, which would enable us to bring glory and honor to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit! May the Lord God Almighty bless us all! Amen!