Monday August 16, 2021

God, I am here to go deeper and learn from You.  Come Holy Spirit, speak to my heart and mind in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord.  Amen.

Romans 15:14-22

Paul the Minister to the Gentiles

I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. Rather, as it is written:

“Those who were not told about him will see,

and those who have not heard will understand.”

This is why I have often been hindered from coming to you.

We are reminded again in today’s passage that Paul is writing to an audience he has not had the chance to meet, but he does know a bit of their story. In verse 14 he speaks of his conviction that they are “full of goodness” and “filled with knowledge.” And yet, Paul expresses that he has written “quite boldly on some points,” so that they, “might become an offering acceptable to God.”

Consider with me today how deeply we need a person like Paul in our life. Someone who is both confident that God is working in us and brave enough to challenge us to pursue an even deeper life with Christ.

Today’s passage reminds me that learning comes from listening when we are humble enough to really hear. Would you be willing to pray for an increased humility in your heart today?