Overcoming Heartbreak

Romans chapter 12 is where I want to start today. I want to start here because I believe there's something here we constantly overlook when we read part of this chapter. We all know what the first 2 verses say,

1 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

We've all either have read those 2 verses or have heard them preached in the pulpit for years. But there's more to the story than that. And it's the rest of the story I want us to look at. Because we all know what Paul says we need to do. But how do we do it? And what's more, why do we need to do it?

Have you ever had someone tell you what you need to do, but never tell you how to do it? They may even tell us why we need to do it, but it's the how part that we need to know. Right? How do we do it? Believe it or not, unlike our friends, family and loved ones, God's Word tells us what we need to know. Guess where? The following verses after verses 1 and 2.

3 "For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,

5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

Now, Paul says we are family. All of us. There is no exception to that. We're to act lovingly to each other. We are to stay humble by not thinking more of our ability, our popularity, or our intellect than we should. Which means we are in the wrong to think we're all that. We're sinning by bragging on ourselves. Paul says here, "Not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought."

That's what the bible says we are to do and yet we're doing the exact opposite of that! Instead of being humble to each other, we're hating each other. Instead of humbling ourselves in our everyday lives, we're bragging about what we have and what we've accomplished. Instead of treating each other like family, we're treating each other like enemies! Why are we doing this? Why are we putting each other through this? Why are we trampling each other down in our day to day lives, when we should be treating each other with the love of Christ and the grace of God?!

We turn on the news at night and all we here are shootings here, there, and everywhere! We hear about people treating each other with hate, with evil, and disgust! We are hating on each other with viciousness, with malice and absolutely no shame whatsoever!

Marriages are falling apart right in front of our eyes! Married couples are coming apart at the seams, people are getting divorced citing irreconcilable differences, putting our children through the heart wrenching agony of seeing their parents treating each other like bitter enemies! Why are we doing this to each other?! What good could possibly come from this?! Have we become so selfish that we are putting ourselves before anyone and everyone else, including God Himself?!

Are you looking at the same scripture I am? Does it not say this? Paul even says we are to think soberly. How do we do that? Sober minded is clear minded. It's open minded. It's not clouded by hate and anger. It's humble. It's peaceful. It's as calm as the sea. If we are to be sober minded, we need to get all the negative thoughts and feelings out of our head! We need to bind those weapons of the enemy in the Name of Jesus Christ! We need to take authority over such things, otherwise, we are at the mercy of sinful temptation, and I promise you, Pally, we will fall hook, line and sinker right into it! But that's not all Paul tells us to do. Keep reading.

6 "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us"

Did you catch that? Each of us have a gift that is different than what others have, but they all are given to us according to the grace we are given. Which means, when we came to Christ and gave our hearts and lives to Him, we received His gift of salvation through His Grace, and with that Grace, come gifts. Spiritual gifts that the Lord has given us to do what He has called us to do, preach the Gospel.