Romans 12: Part 17
Paul just told us that we are to live in harmony with one another. He went on to command us to "not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position" in verse 16b.
Pride or humility? Which do we lean towards? It's a tricky thing, because if we identify ourselves with the humble, we might be at risk of being proud of that!
We are commanded "do not be proud", yet many of us are proud: of our nationality, our family members, our own achievements. In short, pride is satisfaction in our own accomplishments or other things that make us look good. Whereas God tells us in Jeremiah 9:24 that if we boast, we should boast that we know Him, the God who is kind, just, and righteous.
Far too often, we make our faith and religion about us: the music we like, the sermon style we prefer, the small group where we're comfortable, etc. We even make salvation and our testimony about ourselves as well! Yet, I would challenge us to learn to shift the focus from ourselves to God, going from "I accepted Jesus as my personal savior. I turned from my sins. I have been practicing the fruit of the Spirit" to "God reached out to me when I was lost. God saved me from my sins. The Holy Spirit has been cultivating these virtues in my life." We cannot save ourselves. We cannot do enough, obey well enough, or purify ourselves enough to be holy. We are holy because GOD made us holy. We are saved because GOD saved us. When we take the credit for our righteousness, we are forgetting who really has been doing the work in our lives.
There are those who are too proud to do certain types of work or be friends with those workers. Paul is calling out this attitude. We should not avoid rubbing shoulders with the poor or those are the margins of society (the stranger, the widow, the orphan). These are the people that society draws back from, tries to ignore, yet we should not be proud and stand-offish, but should treat them humanely, as we want to be treated (see Matthew 7:12).
Paul didn't add "if it's convenient" here. Most likely it won't be. Things aren't as neat and tidy as we'd like when we're dealing with real people facing real problems. So once again, we are left with the choice: will we obey or will we disobey this command?
Questions to Wrestle With
Take time this week to consider:
-Do you struggle with pride and being prideful?
-When have you been proud of your humility?
-What do you take pride in?
-How have your made your faith about you and your preferences?
-How can you shift the focus back to God?
-Are you too proud to do certain types of jobs?
-Do you tend to avoid certain groups of people because of their social status?
-When has your willingness to associate with people of low position been inconvenient? Was it still worth it?
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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