Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another.
Romans 12:12-16

This verse is a tall order – a command, in fact. Be patient in affliction, faithful in prayer, share, bless those who persecute you, and finally live in harmony with one another. It looks really impressive in writing. Wouldn’t life be so wonderful if we followed this command? But in reality, life is messy and we fall short daily. It is hard to be patient when it feels like the world or sometimes even your close family is against you. It is hard to share with the homeless person on the corner when we selfishly wonder why he is in this situation. It is hard to be hospitable when people seem to look down on you. It is hard to bless those who show hatred toward us in the form of discrimination for what we believe. It is hard to rejoice with others when deep-down we wanted that same blessing for ourselves. Living in harmony is hard too. Hardly a day passes without feeling offended by someone’s words or actions, or knowing you have offended someone.

It’s hard, impossible even, when we look at how others have wronged us. We may think that they don’t deserve our kindness. And it’s hard, impossible, when we look at how we have wronged others. So we must look elsewhere. We look to Jesus Christ who is always patient, always kind, and always loving to us. His unending love motivates our kindness and eagerness to follow through on this tall order. His love is the reminder of our opportunity to reflect him to others so they see his patience, his faithfulness, his love.

God doesn’t say these things will be easy. He simply says “be” this way. We are NOT by nature joyful, patient, and harmonious! We are quite the opposite – grumpy, impatient, rude, selfish, and the list goes on. Thankfully, God sent his Son to be our Savior, to offer forgiveness to us each and every time we fall short of living up to this command. We thank him for his overwhelming and indescribable gift! And with hearts of humble gratitude we are more able to be patient, faithful in prayer, generous to others, and to strive to live in harmony with others around us. We look at those we know as someone for whom Christ came, for whom Christ suffered and died, for whom he rose, and for whom he returned to prepare a place for in heaven we are eager to reach out to them in love.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, help me be patient in suffering and faithful in prayer. Give me opportunities to share your love through my hospitality. Give me wisdom to know how to live in harmony with the people around me. Forgive me when I fall short each day. Amen.