"Who Will Deliver Me?

" week 7 in a study with the book of Romans

Romans 14: 1-10, 13 1 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. 2One persons faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. 4Who are you to judge someone elses servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. 5One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. 6Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. 10You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before Gods judgment seat. 13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.

Commentary

*There were many disagreements between the Christians in Rome. *Paul explains that God gave the law. But the law could not make people "righteous" (Rom 3:20). *The purpose of the law was to show people that everyone has sinned (Rom 7:7). Only Christ makes people righteous (Rom 5:8-9). *Gods Holy Spirit should rule our lives (Ro 8:4). *God did not give the law so that people could obey lots of rules! Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). *Paul wanted the Christians in Rome to love each other and stop arguing about rules and customs. *He asked those whose faith was stronger to encourage others. *Some thought that they must restrict their diet or keep special holy days. They had not discovered the meaning of Christian freedom. *Paul believed he had the freedom that Gods Holy Spirit gives. But he was very careful about how he used this freedom. *He chose to obey the Jewish law so that he did not offend, and he would not cause another Christian to sin (verse 21). *When people have different opinions, the weak and strong Christians should respect each other. *Verses 1-4 Accept means give a welcome. So people in the church should be kind nobody should judge a different opinion. *Paul gives two reasons in these verses why they must accept the weak Christian: 1. God has accepted him (verse 3). 2. That Christian is Christs servant. Only Christ, his master, can decide whether he is a loyal Christian. *Everyone must be sure that he or she does what he or she believes is right. Whatever you choose to eat or to drink, do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). *Verses 7-8 Each Christians life affects other Christians. He/she should feel responsible and not only think about him/herself. *Verses 9-12 Christ is the "Lord of everyone". So the weak Christian is also a servant of Christ. Everyone will have to appear in front of God for judgement. (Paul uses words from Isaiah 45:23.) *Christians are responsible to God. We must help others. We should not hurt them by unkind words - we should love each other.

Notes: *Physical tness is contagious. A report found that poor tness spread through the Air Force Academy like an infectious disease. Once a cadet arrived at the academy, the tness level of the least-t cadet in his squadron was a better predictor of his tness performance than that cadets own tness level. *We like to believe that our choices are immune to the inuence of others, but research reveals that our individual choices are powerfully shaped by what other people think, want, and do and what we think they want us to do. *The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention keep track of longterm changes to our national health, including the obesity rates. In 1990, no state in the nation had an obesity rate equal to or higher than 15 percent. By 2009, only one state (Colorado) and the District of Columbia had a rate lower than 20 percent, and thirty-three states had a rate of 25 percent or higher. *Scientists saw that obesity was infectious. But they also found evidence for the contagiousness of self-control. When one person gave up cigarettes, it increased the odds that their friends and family would quit too. Both bad habits and positive change can spread from person to person like germs, and nobody is completely immune. *Humans are hardwired to connect with others. We have specialized brain cells, called mirror neurons, whose purpose is to keep track of what other people are thinking, feeling, and doing. These mirror neurons help us understand other peoples experiences. *A recent study that just seeing someone smoke on screen launched a subconscious impulse to light up. *The second way our social brains can lead us astray is the contagion of emotion. Our mirror neurons respond to other peoples pain, but they also respond to emotions. Thats how a coworkers bad mood can become our bad mood. Its also why sitcoms use a laugh track the sound of someone else cracking up will tickle your funny bone. *Finally, our brains can even catch temptation when we see others give in. Seeing what other people want can trigger our wants. This is one reason we eat more with others than when were alone, and why we spend more when shopping with friends. *Research shows that it is surprisingly easy to catch a persons goals in a way that changes your own behavior.

*The good news is, goal contagion is limited. A nonsmoker is not going to catch a nicotine craving when a friend pulls out a cigarette. *Goal contagion works in both directions you can catch self-control as well as self-indulgence. *We're much more likely to "catch" behavior from someone we like or want to identify with. Politicians and advertisers use this - they sell the identity not the product. *You can convince people to exercise and eat more fruits and vegetables by telling them its what God wants. Believing that losing weight and exercising is what good Christians do is powerful more motivating than getting a warning from a doctor. *What we believe is normal for people matters even more than what they actually do. The best predictor of whether a student cheats is whether he believes other students cheat. *When contemplating a choice, we often imagine ourselves the object of other peoples evaluations. That this can provide a powerful boost to self-control. *Social emotions may have evolved to help us make the choices that will keep us in good standing in our "tribe" - Imagining social acceptance or rejection can spur us to do the right thing. *Before we get too excited about the power of shame, it might be wise to remember a little something called the what-the-he** effect. Weve seen that feeling bad leads to giving in especially when it takes the form of guilt and shame. *As a preventive measure, shame may work. But once the deed is done, shame is more likely to inspire self-sabotage than self-control. *Pride, on the other hand, pulls through even in the face of temptation. *Willpower failures like addiction, obesity, and bankruptcy often come with a stigma in our society. We may wrongly assume that a person is weak, lazy, stupid, or selsh. *After people are socially rejected, they are less likely to resist the temptation. *Studies show that the more racial minorities are exposed to prejudice, the less self-control they have. *Rather than shame people for their willpower failures, we would do far better by offering social support for willpower successes.

WEEK 7

Willpower challenge 1: Strengthen your "immune system by meditating for 10 minutes at the beginning of your day - and focus on your goals. Continue to use the 10 minute waiting period to put off temptations. Willpower challenge 2: Think of a role model - nd someone who may have tackled the problems you are facing. Or imagine what a person you admire might do. When you are ready - begin to go public with some of your goals. Don't feel ashamed of where you are on that scale of success at this point. Begin to formally track your progress.

Willpower challenge 3: Get some help if you can. A support group or friends to hold you accountable. Give yourself some compassion. Imagine how you might advise a good friend - and then treat yourself that way.

WE ARE ONE IN THE SPIRIT by Peter Scholte (all rights reserved) We are One in The Spirit, We are One in The Lord. We are One in The Spirit, We are One in The Lord. And we pray that all unity may one day be restored. And they'll know we are Christians by our love, By our Love, Yes they'll know we are Christians by our love. We will work with each other, We will work side by side. We will work with each other, We will work side by side. And we'll guard each man's dignity And save each man's pride. And they'll know we are Christians by our love, By our Love, Yes they'll know we are Christians by our love. We will walk with each other, We will walk hand in hand. We will walk with each other, We will walk hand in hand. And together we'll spread the News that God is in our land. And they'll know we are Christians by our love, By our Love, Yes they'll know we are Christians by our love.