Lesson 53a

We're going to be looking at Lesson 53. This is the portion around Romans Chapter 12, 14. And I added 21 just to round out the chapter there, Mike. So we've got Romans 12, 14 through 21. Could someone read that for us? Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice. And weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind towards one another. Do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge.

Beloved, But leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord, I will repay. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty, give him to drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Well, talk about Christian dedication right there. Dedication, good word.

Yeah. Or is it a manifestation of love? That's really the question here. There's two ways of looking at this, I think. And one of them is, it's that magnet list on the refrigerator. It's that checklist. It's that to-do list. It looks like this. You know, one of these guys where you've got all the check boxes and you're listing out the things. Because this group of scripture has got a lot of that in it. But I use the term manifestation of love because we've talked about this a lot.

It's not our job to accomplish these things. So we're going to ask some real questions. We'll start with question number one. I do want to just kind of give that context that we are not talking about dedication here, but we've got a lot to learn about who we are in Christ. And so question number one, what does bless those who persecute you mean?

Is the idea of loving your enemies actually possible? And I won't talk until I start getting interaction. as in the spirit of both Courtney and Mike's. Hey Cheryl. Yeah, the only way you can love your enemies is through Christ. I mean, you know, with our old nature we can't, but with the new nature we can. Yeah, does it feel like something that you can do as a person to love your enemies? Is that a feeling that comes natural to you? No, not always. Not always. I think these verses might be the most difficult for me to swallow. Courtney?

Now this is, it is, I agree totally with Cheryl, it's a manifestation of Christ. That's not a question. I think that's the only way you can do it. The only thing is, and I have to check my own heart, is when you get down to the final verse, is, by doing so, you heap burning coals on your enemy.

Sometimes that is the motivating factor, sometimes, I think. If you're extremely nice to one of your enemies, you know it's going to drive them nuts. There's another verse in here. I have to check my heart, but it's like I know if I'm really nice to somebody, it's just going to be like burning coals on their head. There is that flip side on that at the very bottom. I think that's kind of an interest. I've always wondered about that. But in the end, by being loving and all that to your enemies, you're heaping burning coals on his head.

So I literally have to check my heart sometimes when I'm very not because I can be very nice to somebody and an enemy because I know it's going to drive them nuts. Hey, Courtney. Yes. And the 20 years I've known you, I've never had burning coals on my head from you. You're not my enemy. You're not my enemy. Oh, I don't know about that.

You know, we see the way I look at us, it's iron sharpens iron, you know, that we are, we, we attack each other to get ourselves better. So this is an enemy. And I think that, you know, that really is, I'm being blatantly honest. I think sometimes, you know, it is, I have to check my heart because it's like, If you're really nice to somebody who is being very mean or an enemy, I know that that just drives them nuts. And it's that last verse that you're heaping burning coals on their head. Now, I don't know if that's the right motivation or not. I don't think so. I think it's supposed to be, as Cheryl said, the manifestation of Christ, that it's the outpouring of love, that he loved his enemies and, you know, that. So I do have to kind of juxtaposition I'm going to put burning gold on their head.

Well, we won't have to teach on that verse now. You know, it's interesting. One of the things about this verse is that the command is in the present tense. We're supposed to do this all the time. It isn't that we sit around and wait for the opportunity. This should be the prevailing attitude that we have as believers.

Well, it also matches with, I'm getting way ahead of you, JD, but it's also that, if at all possible, be at peace with all men. You know, I think this all fits together in a very logical packet when you do this. And when you see, and you know, we always look at this little section, but when you patch it all together with the previous verses and all that, using gifts and all the different things, You know, I think this all fits together when you read it as a whole. Right. Yeah, it's interesting. So I just this little bit of context to the verse Luke 6, 27, 28. Love your enemies. Do good to them that hate you. Bless them that curse you. Pray for them that despitefully use you. Use you. I thought that was an interesting way of translating that. Ever felt used by enemy? Sure. Oh man, that hurts, right? Well, especially if it's not, I mean, if it's not a, I would say, a sworn enemy.

I mean, people in your own family, people in your body of believers, neighbors, people like that. They're just, you know, they're just folks that are users. And they're, you know, they try to use you in every sense of the word. you know, sometimes it's, it's pretty difficult to, to respond in a loving manner, which obviously shows that, well, I guess I'm not walking in spirit.

That last statement is probably the best one yet. I think that's very true, right? So we all have situations where, and I'll just ask the question, have you been in a situation where you treat another with love? and kindness on the outside, but filled differently inwardly. So it's like, I'm going to show you what I know I'm supposed to show you, but in the inside, I'm still, I'm heaping coals on myself.

Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah, so I think the spirit of what this verse has in mind, in terms of blessing, is an inward and outward connected attitude. It's not an action, right? It's not an outward attitude, but an inward, you know, different perspective, right? So, I'm going to read Newell here.

He says, in this verse, it is not mere outward blessing that is commanded, but refraining from inward reservations or private expressions For sometimes we speak sweetly to opposers, but afterwards prove that we did not allow our hearts to go out in love to those enemies. And by the way, do not stumble if you find other Christians speaking ill of you, even persecuting you, bless them too.

I absolutely cannot do that. Absolutely impossible. the hardest verses in the scripture. And the coolest thing about that is it's not my job. It's absolutely not my job. When my focus is on the Lord Jesus and his life, it's his life being lived through me. And that's going to be the repeated answer to every single one of these questions. I'll go ahead and give that away. This is not our job to do. This is the Lord Jesus that does it. Let me ask you right there. Yeah.

Well, here I am in a situation where enemy or friend, as the term says, despitefully using me. And I'm aware of it and I don't like it. But I'm also aware at the same time, because the Spirit of God doesn't let you, you know, stay there very long, that this is definitely a time when I'm to be manifesting the life of Christ through me. And I'm thinking, boy, how am I going to do that right now? as the circumstances are present.

Because, like you mentioned earlier, if I sit around and wait for a feeling to come over me, it'll never happen. So there's got to be something else there that would change the direction of my attitude. I want to take that point and ask the class, what is the thing? If it's not a feeling, then what is it? What would change the course of where I was headed in my heart to being a manifestation of this verse? What do you think that thing is? What's the tool? How does it work? Hey Winnie, I thought you might be starting to say something. No. Okay. That's alright.

It seems like it has to be the indwelling Holy Spirit that loves through us. And I think in my life I've found that it really reduces a lot of strife. We're always trying to get even with everything someone does. It just brings a lot more joy and peace to a person's life if they're just not every instant, I'm getting even, I'm getting even, when the Spirit can just somehow take over and love through you. I definitely think you're right, Russ. I think the indwelling Holy Spirit is a huge component to this. I would ask, is there a trigger?

Is there something that that can change the mind from not persecuting those who persecute, but blessing those who persecute? I'm looking for a specific thing and maybe I'm not being as clear as I could be, but how do you go from being frustrated to focusing on the Lord and his word? Is it simply that, reading the word? Is it pulling out the verses from your wallet and reading them to yourself? What is it?

It could be as you're yielding to the Spirit, even though you feel some kind of animosity toward your enemy, that the Holy Spirit will change you over time. It's kind of like a progress that will change you over time, and you're looking. The Holy Spirit's kind of revealing their need to you, and then you kind of change your attitude towards them.

Is that what you're looking for? That's what I was looking for, so thank you. I think it is a yielding, right? And I think in the midst of that yielding is a certain amount of prayer. We talked about prayer in the past, that it's not so much this formality. It's a, oh Lord, you know, and then it's a yield. And it can definitely have verses associated with it. It will definitely have aspects of the scripture embedded in that. But as we start to think the Lord's thoughts after him, we begin to be prayerful. We begin to yield.

And that's the environment where the Holy Spirit can produce this type of life. Would you guys agree? One of the things I think of, and this is kind of the practical side of me, is it sounds right, and it is right, yielding to the Holy Spirit, or let the Holy Spirit work in me, do that. When an enemy confronts, is this the arrow prayer? Holy Spirit work for me. Don't let me be angry. You know, I think that those are okay and valid, you know. He allows us to come at any time, any place, anywhere and ask for strength, you know, whatever. I think it's kind of what Debbie was saying, though.

I think this is more the manifestation of Christ as our relationship with Christ, our spiritual growth in Christ. It becomes more a natural manifestation of Christ in our relationship. that as we grow in Him, in the knowledge of Christ and the relationship and the union with Him, that it's more of Christ being manifest rather than us immediately or instantaneously trying to ask for the Holy Spirit to intervene. Again, I think that's okay, but I think the real is the time frame, the growth, the growth and relationship with Christ is where this will be manifest rather than immediacy of calling upon the Holy Spirit. Yeah, and I would agree with that, Courtney. I think that the idea of asking for help to get through things is an oversight to the fact that you already have that, and it's in a person, and it's more about spending time with Him and thinking through His Word as opposed to trying to get some kind of divine capability that would only apply to a certain situation, right? And I know that we talk about, Lord, help us, give us strength and things like that, but I continue to Continue to just be confident in the fact that we already have some those things and and it isn't a person and it's a it's about him Doing the living through us and that happens by beholding him through his word And so yes, I agree.

It does become kind of a natural a natural manifestation over time I will say the last phrase that I just said over time because I don't think we start there with every every Well, we definitely don't start there in the beginning of our walk with the Lord, right? We don't know what that means.

Moving past that, even getting into the mature side of things, that time factor is situational, right? So it becomes shorter, but there's some that just irk you. I mean, some things, some enemies just get to you, and it takes you time to recognize who you are in Christ. So it's a tool, right?

But also, I don't discount the fact that the immediacy of it. He's put you in a position where you're faced with, I just help. And I think, you know, he answers that way too, and the Holy Spirit answers that way too. I don't discount that, but in a whole it comes from a relationship.

You can always call upon the Lord, you can always have the Holy Spirit help you immediately, or you know, because I've had the error of prayers, where it's like, oh my Lord, you know, He's putting you in a position where it's forcing you into the knowledge of dependency upon Him, and you know, you need to manifest that because I'm a believer, I'm in Christ. So I think it's a combination of both, but I think that the long term is where the manifestation, this comes up, where You know, you can love your enemy and not have that immediate, epidemic response of, I want to pound you. Hey, JD. Yeah. Jim's got a question. Okay. Hey, Jim. JD, can you hear me? You're muffled, but I can hear you, I think. Okay.

You know, when I am dealing with a person who really hates me, I think of how she's would actually love that person. And when I think about how he loves that person, I start to actually love the person himself, not for what he's doing to me. But because Jesus loves him, I ask, I actually ask him how I can, if he could, how he could love me, how I could change my attitude towards that person. And then I see him in a different light.

I had the same situation at work, when I was working. There's just this very authentic guy, you know, and it's just a sort of love him through me if you can. Right. And it does actually work. You actually really start inwardly loving that person. Not necessarily by what they do, but just by who they are. I have a thought about this.

When we were studying Galatians, those verses that talk about the spirit has strong desires against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit, they're contrary to one another so that I can't do what I want to do. So what's interesting about that verse is that I have the flesh, which is the hater, put it that way, and I have the Holy Spirit in me, who's the lover. And those two entities are vying to control what comes out of me.

If I am ignorant of the truths that we know, identification and position, I'm going to go the default to the flesh every single time. Even if I have a refrigerator list a mile long about how I should behave. I'm going to default there. So I find that from an experiential standpoint, it's almost like you have to be brought to the point by the spirit to trust him, to do what he says he's going to do, that he's going to manifest the life of the Lord Jesus through me.

And I'm not waiting for him to show me the trigger. I'm just to trust him and believe him when he tells me. who I am, what's happened to me on the cross. I'm resurrected. He's in there. He's in me. He is now the source of my life. And so, from my perspective, it comes back to just believing what he says in his word and trusting him. And what comes out from that is, you know, whatever he wants.

Because I look at the Lord Jesus sometimes, you know, and he didn't fawn over his enemies. but he didn't condemn them either, you know, but he dealt realistically with situations that came up to him like the woman caught in adultery and you know when he went in the temple sometimes or the Pharisees would challenge him and he would call them white as sepulchers, you know, but that's because that's what they were, you know, and is that you know, so I'm not, I like the idea that we have to, that this is, that spiritual growth into the conformity to Christ is a lifelong process.

And that in and of itself is comforting, because then you don't get all whipsawed about, oh, I'm not as spiritual as I think I should be. But at the same time, I know where we're headed. You know, I know what the Spirit's doing, and I can trust Him with what what he's doing just specifically with me. And I know that if somebody comes in my life and, you know, assaults me or however, that that was allowed for my growth and my benefit. And so there's an attitude there that comes from the Spirit of God that allows us not to get so wrapped up in how am I doing?

Once I start thinking about how am I doing, I'm looking at the food rather than Christ. As long as you know who you are in Christ. It matters. Yeah, it really matters. I agree. Then you don't work off the flesh. You let the spirit work through you. Because we're seated in the heavenly place. We're here on this earth spiritually. That's right.

One of the things kind of tied on to what Jim had said was, you know, I look at in saying about the thought of loving your enemy and it's heaping coals on his head. That's one thing. The other thing, which Jim kind of touched on and it's not really in these where you're heaping coals on the head. The other is that I've found when you love your enemies, you become a great, a very good witness.

Because people, people go, why didn't you strike back? Why didn't you tell that guy? Why didn't I would have, you know, told him to pound sand, I would have. And, and it, you know, in some of those incidents, you know, what's different about you? Why didn't you do that? And it becomes an opportunity to express about the Lord. Because that's not the worldly way to respond. If somebody punches you, you punch them back. And when you don't, that becomes a very powerful witness.

On the drill rig and work and different things where that's come up and you don't, people have just been treated poorly or it's a very difficult situation and you don't strike back. I've had many questions. Why didn't you? You should have. Man, if that was me, I would have, It gives you opportunity. So it's not really kind of to the heaping coals on but it's to the witness that why didn't you yeah, you know Those are all really really good points I think one thing to add miles had texted me just a minute ago.

He couldn't get on to the to the zoom meeting here, but he mentioned that We love because he first loved us. And I thought, you know, how foundational is that to what we're talking about? It's pretty much the foundation to all the things that you just said, Jim, to Mike and Courtney, those additional thoughts. We love because he loved us.

And I think that brings us into question number two. How would you describe the concept of Christian empathy? based on verse 15. So I'll start the conversation here on question number two. So in the role of software design that I perform, that's my career, I design software, we talk a lot about empathy. We talk a lot about getting in people's shoes and trying to think about the way they think about using our product. And maybe some of you have been in similar roles. Anytime you want to make a user experience ideal, you want to make sure that you understand the user, right?

So we're talking about Christian empathy. And let's read verse 15 again, just to make sure we have that in context. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. So talk to me about the concept of Christian empathy. I was going to say from the standpoint of what Miles said, we love him because he first loved us. We forgive because we've been forgiven and we show kindness because we've been shown kindness.

Yeah. And empathy is the ability to, well, empathy by definition is the ability to understand from someone else's viewpoint how that feels, what that's like. And if anyone of us looks at ourselves, we're a recipient of God's grace, which makes us enabled to be able to demonstrate God's grace. Yeah, that's a great point. Yeah, that was good. Yeah.

So I think being a recipient of grace is key because He loved us, He shows kindness to us, He forgives us. You know, grace is an unmerited blessing towards us all the time. That has a greater effect on our responsiveness than any other single thing I can think of. His grace comes at us full on, you know, all the time. I remember when Jesus was on the cross and he told his father, Forgive them, Father, they just don't know what they're doing. I think some of the people that are cruel towards us don't really know what they're doing. And that's where God within and understanding grace helps us, especially with unbelievers, to be patient and loving. That's a good point, Ross.

Eugene, could you say that This kind of empathy is understanding how someone feels and reciprocating in kind, not mechanically, but actually from the heart? I think so. And one of the interesting points that I thought through when I was preparing for this question was In software design, I'm trying to understand somebody and their intent and how they're wanting to use a product or whatever.

And we often use the term walking in their shoes. The difference with that is that, especially for believers, is we actually share the same life. So it's an empathy that goes beyond what human empathy can produce, right? We share the exact same life. according to other verses, we should have the same perspectives. We don't always, though. We just absolutely do not. But this is where this verse comes in. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. So we talked about blessing and persecution in the previous verse. This has more to do with coming alongside, sharing the same life.

I believe this is has a lot to do with it. Kit, is this just about believers? I'll ask that to the class. Is this only for believers? Yes. We got an emphatic yes from Mike. Let me tell you why I think so. And I'll use Ethan as an example. In the last two or three days as we read the results, I knew everybody that had anything to do with Ethan was rejoicing. to see those numbers go up. Because we're involved.

We pray for that little guy every day. And then if it turns south, and like he said, three that didn't take, we were weeping with him. We were holding him up. We were walking with him. And I think that's how that life works. But it only works in believers. I think. Yeah. The literal, so Newell here, the literal rendering is rejoice with rejoicing ones and weep with weeping ones. Believers, of course, are especially met in both cases. There will always be some that are weeping. Can you think of a time in scripture where the Lord showed sorrow for another believer and expressed empathy? Lazarus and his sisters. I saw Cheryl. She was ready to answer that one too. With Martha and also with... Jesus wept. He wept not because of Lazarus' death but because of the others that were weeping. Yeah. Or some of them weren't believing.

Can I give you another example? You know, you all know that our dog Zeke left the planet, right? So we're out walking in the park like we do every day and there's tons of dog people down there and they know us and they're the kind of people that you know they're real nice but boy when you tell them that you had to put your dog down they are literally stunned and you know and want to cry with you over it or whatever They just, why? Because their experience with having pets that they really cared about? You know, my thought about that was is that these are people that probably would pay for an abortion. You know? But they would be upset that your dog died, you know? Yeah. So, Make that applicable here. It's applicable, I think, in the sense that, as I said, it's for believers.

Because, you know, when you talk to other believers about the struggle in their life and what's going on, and not necessarily you know, their truck stopped running and their dog died. It's not like that. But the internal struggle we've been talking about all morning, you can empathize with them because you know, and you can walk with them and you can cry with them when they're having a tough time. And but you also rejoice with them when you see that God has done something graciously towards them that just changed them. You know, so On the same token, how do you empathize with someone who is not a believer? They don't believe in the same way we do.

No, they don't. So it's hard to empathize. Yeah, because pain and suffering and sin is everywhere, whether you're a believer or not. Yeah. Do they deal with it differently? Yeah, they do. When somebody dies, if they're not a believer, it's devastating. Yeah, it is. They've lost their whole life. They will never see that person again. So how do you empathize with that? I don't know. I think my first thought would be we can't fully empathize with them. We can't walk in their shoes because they don't share the same life, right?

But their number one need is the Lord Jesus. So love becomes our expression. We love them. And that's all we can do and we and we can love them the most by giving them the truth about who they are And what they need and that's really their ultimate that that that's evangelism, right?

Like that's our that's the role that we share with unbelievers. We can't empathize to the degree that we can truly rejoice and we Alongside alongside them we they're not going to see that life in the same way that we see life or death. So, does that, is that fair?

One extra thing too, just, you know, there's things about in the 2nd Corinthians 1 about Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Father of mercy is the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God and I think that's you know, we weep and we rejoice because We know the God and Father who is in control of all things has comforted us.

We rejoice in the time when we Ethan has the good numbers. We rejoice in that. We weep when it doesn't, because we have a God who has brought us through those same things, and we know the comfort through God. And so I think that's, we rejoice and weep because of this, that He's the God of all mercy, and we've experienced it. And that's again to believers, not unbelievers. It's different. Right. Yeah, there's that.

As I say, the one kind of sad thing is like I used to be a musician and so I have a lot of musician friends and they're all older too and the majority of them aren't believers and it's very sad to me that every time someone dies a thousand people respond and say rest in peace. And the thing is, it was the same when I worked for Lockheed.

These guys who would tease me about believing in Jesus will always end up in a coffin in the church. And, you know, and the preacher is up there doesn't know Jesus either. I mean, sadly, and he's there saying, you know, he's in a better place. And the thing is, the world's deceived. And if they don't have an trusted Christ. They're not. And I mean, it's just like heartbreaking.

And I've got a lot of Mormon friends who like I'll put something on Facebook that's like a spiritual related thing. And the Mormons are right in there. Oh, yes, we love Jesus so much. And it's confusing sometimes because it's just unfortunately how to see the world is. Yeah, sure. Yeah, I agree. Thanks for sharing that, Russ. Yeah, I think that we all have a different degree of unbelieving friends, but they all share the same lack of hope. And so it's tough. It's definitely tough. I can relate to that.

Question number three, given that each of us are also different, how in the world is it possible to aim toward the same thing as believers? And somebody might have to ring the bell. Courtney, I don't know. I'm looking at the clock here, but you ring me if I need to be ringing.

So question number three, verse 16, be of the same mind toward one another. Do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Yeah, so given that we're all so different, how in the world is it possible to aim toward the same thing as believers?

Mike, you can't answer yet. Okay. Courtney, you can't answer yet. How can you be of the same mind Russ? Because we have the mind of Christ and we have Christ who indwells us and it's an internal spiritual oneness that allows it. What do you guys think about that answer? Gary, any thoughts? I think what Russ said, basically that we have the mind of Christ. And I think as we dwell in the Word, we understand that mind of Christ.

Yeah, that's good. I have this quote here, aspiring after the same aims, aiming at the same object for one another, as for ourselves, having the same solicitude for the temporal and spiritual welfare of the brother. as for our own. Aspiring for the same aims. That's kind of an interesting perspective. And I think it ties right into what both of you just said, Russ and Gary, where we're sharing the mind of Christ with our brothers and sisters, right?

What about this, don't be haughty in mind? I've got a few more minutes, but associate with the lowly. Have you ever been haughty in mind? Mike? I'm not telling. You want me to answer that one for you? I'm glad I answered that one. I remember my first meeting of Mike. Let me tell you about that. No, I won't. Wow. The great thing about having a haughty mind is that it found its way to the cross. No kidding. Well, the interesting part of this is it's not just that, I mean, there's that haughty mind part, but it's contrasted with associate with the lowly.

So it's essentially don't Even in your wisdom, don't, and we'll talk about that next week, or the last part of it, but even in your ability to think through the scripture, I think, you shouldn't have this desire to only associate with all the professors, right? All of those that are seminary graduates, or all those that are theologians, or that kind of thing. This has a contrast to even those that are maybe just beginning out in their faith or are not, you know, just not great students in the same capacity that maybe you are. So we can still be of the same mind with those people.

And I think it's important because that requires a type of humility, and I feel like that's a word that's backing some of this here. You know, Miles used to have a great saying about that. He would say that it takes the Spirit of God a long time to teach you the truth, which is the resume you just gave of study and learning and people you admire. But then he said it takes Him twice as long to teach you how and when to give it to somebody else. You know, and that's so profound because you have a tendency to think, well, I've learned a couple of things, now I have the license to go broadcast and get up in your face about it.

No, I don't. Right. You know, and so you learn that, you know, we were talking the other day about that the Paulists planted and Paul watered, but God gave the increase. It was interesting that the planting and the watering are in the aorist tense, which means they're done. But the increases in the present tense, or in the perfect tense, it's always going on. Always. Right. So, it's really cool. Yeah.

One final thought is, when I was going through all my stuff about all the people who really don't know Jesus, and because they haven't been saved yet, and I'm going on about my friends who are Mormons, all that stuff, it breaks my heart totally, but it kind of makes me think of having a haughty heart because I know I believe and so I know I'm saved. I don't think it's the same as being haughty, you know, it's just like a total disastrous heartache because I really think so much of religion has taught nothing about grace and our principles of position, that they have no idea that Jesus did it all and he's just right there waiting for them. And it's just so sad. What's that? Time. Yeah, sorry. Hey, Russ, thank you for those thoughts. Let's pray. Father, how we thank you for the heart's desire for those that are lost.

But in these verses, Lord, we look at a number of different things. And we thank you that it is only through the manifestation of your son's life and our life that we could bless those who persecute us, that we could Bless and not curse, that we can rejoice with those who are rejoicing and come alongside those and weep with those who weep. Lord, we thank you that through your life, we can be of the same mind. We can share the mind of Christ toward one another. And we can have the experience of associating with the lowly and avoiding that haughtiness of mind. And so Lord, we'll look at the rest of these next week, but we thank you for the truths of Romans 12 here. Pray for a wonderful next service and that we continue to be open to the teaching that you have for us. Thank you for your love and your grace. It's in your name we pray. Amen.