Contrasting Standards

Romans 12:9-19

  The Church:                                     The World:
Genuine love                               Hypocritical love
Abhors evil                                  Embraces evil
Clings to good                            Shuns good
Cares for others                        Despises others
Sound in business                     Lazy in business
Excited in righteousness          Excited in selfishness
Hopeful                                        Hopeless
Patient in hard times                 Frantic in hard times
Prayerful                                      Wishful
Gives generously                       Gives sparingly
Hospitable                                   Unfriendly
Bless enemies                            Curse enemies
Empathetic and sympathetic    Cold and heartless
Of the same mind                      Divisive
Humble                                        Arrogant
Godly wisdom                            Worldly wisdom
Recompense good for evil  Recompense evil for evil
Honest                                         Insincere
Peaceful                                     Unruly
Forgiving                                     Vengeful

In life, we honor our employees so they will perform better, our bosses so they’ll pay us consistently, and those with the power of influence, so they’ll work for us and not against us, but we must also honor people, because they have been created in the image of the same God we live to please. Living to please others isn’t always an easy thing to do, but loving for real involves effort and concentration. God not only takes note of how we treat our brothers and sisters, but more so how we treat those who have yet to surrender their hearts to Him.