Romans 15:5-6 “Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
I love how this passage begins: “Now the God of patience and consolation. . . .” In II Corinthians, God is called the God of all comfort (II Cor. 1:3). God is a God of patience, comfort, and consolation. Our passage this morning in Romans 15 is a prayer-a prayer for the Roman believers (and us) to be likeminded. But let me ask you: whose mind should we be like?
No two people think alike in everything. Talk about diversity-just ask ten people their opinion on a current issue! Even better than that, if you are a wife, do you fully understand how your husband thinks? If you are a husband, do you fully understand how your wife thinks? And these are the people who know us best!
The call to be likeminded seems impossible; but when God gives a command, He gives a way. The way to be likeminded is to be like Christ. His mind is whose mind we should be like! Romans 15:2 tells us that we are to “please [our] neighbor for his good to edification” because “Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.” It was not to please Himself that the Lord Jesus was born and died on the cross. It was not for Himself; it was for you and me.
So how in the world can we have the same mind? How can we have patience when people grieve us? How can we comfort when life grieves them? God is the source for what we need. His mind is the only one that matters.
Do you need patience today? Do you need encouragement? Go to the Source-“Now the God of patience and consolation. . . .”
Prayer Requests:
1. Health, safety, and provision for staff
2. Campers to be helped this week (Family Week II, Sign Language School, Deaf Adult Conference)
3. Praise–40 campers were saved during last week’s teen, junior, and Deaf camps!
Camp Quotes:
“Some people treat their sin like a pet, but one day it will bite them.”
-Evangelist Troy Carlson