Fueled by Hope
๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข Who is one person you look up to or want to be like? Why?
โข What are some things you do to show a person that you love them, care about them, or think about them? Why are these important to you?
โข How do you usually respond when you donโt like a personโs attitude or behavior? Recall an instance explaining this.
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ข๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ช๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ. ๐๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ฆ๐ค๐ต. ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฎ:๐ญโ๐ฎ
(Read also ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฎ:๐ฏโ๐ฎ๐ญ.)
Everything God has done for usโour salvation, redemption, and eternal place in Christโare to result in worship to Him. In light of His mercy, goodness, and faithfulness, we are to lay down our lives as a living sacrifice. We are not to be like the world. Instead, we are to live differently, fueled by hope in God and secured by His mercies. Letโs look at how different our lives should be now.
๐ญ. ๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ, ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐๐ฒ.
๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ; ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ. ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฎ:๐ญ๐ฐ
When we are persecuted, our natural human tendency would be to protect ourselves and curse our persecutors. But we are not to live this way. Instead of cursing others, we are to bless them. Why do you think this can be difficult? What do you think can happen when we bless and pray for our persecutors?
๐ฎ.ย ๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ, ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐๐บ๐ฏ๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ด๐ต๐๐.
๐๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐บ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐บ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐บ. ๐๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต.ย ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฎ:๐ญ๐ฒ
As we progress in life, we may think of ourselves as higher or better than others. We have a tendency to become haughty, to distance ourselves from the lowly, and be wise in our own eyes. But we are not to live this way. Instead of considering ourselves better than others, we are to ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐บ and ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐บ. What would this look like in daily life? Who might we consider to be lowly, and how can we associate with them?ย
๐ฏ. ๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ, ๐๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ณ๐๐น๐น๐.
๐๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ญ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ญ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ.ย ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฎ:๐ญ๐ณ
When we are wronged and evil is done to us, our tendency is to take revenge and repay the evil done to us with more evil. But we are not to live this way. Instead of avenging ourselves, we are to do what is honorable and right before others. We are to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). Instead of avenging ourselves, according to Romans 12:19โ20, what are we to do? Why is this better?ย
We are to live in a way that is different from our human tendencies and what the world dictates. In Christ, we are to honor, love, and serve one another. While this is impossible on our own, the love and mercy of God toward us empowers and enables us to live in a way that honors Him. We can love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19), and we can live fueled by hope.
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Take some time this week to meditate on Romans 12. Ask God to reveal your concerns and issues, and ask Him to lead you to the cross. Pray that you would live a life of worship in light of His mercy and love.ย
โข Can we leave those who are evil in Godโs hands? How can you live in a way that honors God, even when you are wronged?ย
โข How can you be a blessing to those around you who may be difficult to love? What is one thing you are willing to do this week?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for His love and His desire for us to become more like Christ every day. Be honest about your weaknesses and inadequacies before Him, and admit your need for Him in your life every day.
โข Pray that your life would be a reflection of Christ. Pray that you would make Him known through what you say and how you live.
โข Pray for those who persecute you, who have done evil against you, and who may be lowly in your sight. Ask God for eyes to see them the way He does, and pray for compassion, love, and grace.ย