Let Love be Genuine, Romans 12.9-21

As we walk through the Christian life, St. Paul commands us to have genuine love for one another. This admonition is foundational to all that he then goes on to say about Christian life in this world with other believers and with non-believers. Ultimately, through genuine love, we will discover that we are not overcome by evil, but can overcome evil through that very genuine love.

Image: Persecution of Christians with scenes of martyrdom behind, engraving by  J. Wierix after M. de Vos. License: CC BY 4.0, from Wellcome Collection. Image located: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Persecution_of_Christians_with_scenes_of_martyrdom_behind._E_Wellcome_V0033268.jpg

God's Mercy, Our Sacrifice, Romans 12.1-8

St. Paul tells that in light of God’s mercy we are to be living sacrifices with our whole bodies. The difficulty with this is the a sacrifice that still lives can get up and move away from its calling. Thus, through that very mercy we to continually sacrifice ourselves in order to be raised into new life in Christ. It’s not easy, but it is what God has called us to in Christ Jesus and thus he will empower us to do so.

Image: Melchizedek offering sacrifice, mosaic from Sant'Apollinare in Classe. Photo by Lawrence OP. No Changes made. Used under license CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. Image located here.