Romans 12:12-13 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Trouble comes to all people. Life has challenges. Sometimes those challenges can seem overwhelming, especially during a crisis, great loss, economic challenge, and so forth. What will help us go into the future is hope. Hope is a partner with faith. Faith must have an object. Our faith must be in the Lord Jesus Christ, what He has done for us and what is promised in the future. Our future hope renews our faith, and our faith keeps this hope alive. Paul directs the Romans to rejoice in hope. A side benefit of hope is a deep joy that compels us into the challenges of life. Joy helps us deal with the problems and not lose heart or become depressed or anxious. This joy from hope also helps us develop patience. We need patience because without it, we will get discouraged when the going gets tough. The way for all of this to happen is through prayer. Prayer keeps us connected to the source of hope. It shifts our thinking from the external to the eternal.
It is interesting how Paul’s mind moves from one exhortation to another. Paul shifts from the internal nature of a person’s mind and spirit to action in helping others. If we do not have hope, patience, and prayer, it can be difficult to do the next thing of helping other believers in need. If our minds are transformed into Christ’s thinking, our actions should also change. Our compassion and awareness of others’ needs should grow. We will see our brothers and sisters (the “saints”) who have needs and we will do what we can through hospitality to help them during their time of need. All of these characteristics help us understanding what it means to be like Jesus Christ.
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