Strengthened in Faith

Romans 1:8-15

⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world. ⁹ For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers, ¹⁰ asking that by God’s will I may somehow at last succeed in coming to you. ¹¹ For I long to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift so that you may be strengthened— ¹² or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. ¹³ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you, as I have among the rest of the gentiles. ¹⁴ I am obligated both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish, ¹⁵ hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

For the next month, we will jump into the book of Romans to reflect on some select passage. Paul’s letter to the Romans is the longest of his correspondences and offers us more of a theological perspective about the role of gospel of Jesus Christ is and how it is our path towards salvation. These verses today are Paul’s opening lines of his letter. You can read his excitement at reaching out to the people of Rome to share his faith.

Paul reminds us in this passage that sharing our faith and our own spirituality is a way to strengthen others. This is such a good reminder of how important it is to share what God is doing in our lives with one another. When we see signs of God and feel that connection, we can only help and support others when we openly share this testimony. One of the things that is amazing to me in being part of the body of Christ is watching people care for people. When difficult things happen in our life or in the lives of others, you can listen to the ways that the body cares for itself. You can hear stories of phone calls, flowers, meals, and words of kindness. These words are the music in God’s song of life and give us strength in our faith.

Prayer

God of strength, this world can be a complicated and difficult place at times. Some days are indeed harder than others. In you, we find strength to continue forward knowing that you hold us close and unconditionally love us through it all. In Jesus Name, Amen.