Romans 12: Knowing God's will

This Bible chapter begins with advice on how to know God’s will for our lives.  For those of us who wonder how God will use us, this is the place that tells us many of the factors that go into our calling.

In order to know God’s will, we must first lay down our own lives, including our own will.  Then we will have a life of service to our brethren, a life of loving them.  Twice in this chapter we are warned not to be high-minded, or proud. (vs 3 & 16).  If our estimation of ourselves is overinflated, we will miss how God wants us to live out our calling.  And if our estimation of others is low, we will not want to serve them.

Many of us have desires of what we wish God would do with us.  Those desires become inflated when we think of how the Lord might serve us by our calling.  Rather, the Lord puts us in places to serve others with our gifts.  Our calling requires faithful use of our gifts for the benefit of others, but not for the furthering of ourselves.  To accomplish faithful service towards our brethren, our own love must be genuine.

Our calling will not give us a trouble-free walk with the Lord. To think that we are above persecution and evil is to be proud-minded.  Rather, God wants us to associate with people who misunderstand us, and to try to bring harmony.  We should care about the unhappy as much as we do about those who are enjoying their lives.

God has designed His will for our lives to include our love for other people, for that is the way Jesus' life was.  Jesus’ calling was not lived out in a vacuum, for He became acquainted with the griefs and sorrows of all men. (Is 53:3-4).  When we lay our lives down for others, they may not seem grateful nor appreciative. Their growth may seem forever stunted.  But let us leave our personal frustrations behind us, knowing that God’s will for our lives is perfected in genuine love for our brethren.  Though our humility may come to us as humiliation, it is in laying down our own will for God’s calling that we will truly know His good and perfect will for our lives. Amen.