Sermons

Romans 12: 9-21 | Clint Leavitt

Our Western culture likes to throw the word "Love" around constantly, but when conflict arises, our definitions quickly crumble. Week five of Live in Love dives into Paul's thoughts about love in Romans 12:9-21, challenging us to move beyond love as a fleeting feeling and embrace it as a consistent, costly action. Drawing from psychiatrist M. Scott Peck's insight that love is the will to extend oneself for another's spiritual growth, we're confronted with a radical truth: genuine love is tested not when things are easy, but precisely when we face disappointment, betrayal, and opposition. Paul's letter to the Romans isn't a rulebook for earning God's approval—it's a description of family values for those who already know they're loved by Christ. The passage walks us through the house of love, opening door after door: hating evil while holding fast to good, showing mutual affection as brothers and sisters, maintaining passionate zeal, rejoicing in hope amid suffering, practicing radical generosity and hospitality. Most challenging of all, we're called to stay open-hearted even when others hurt us, refusing to let evil reproduce itself through our vengeful responses. The burning coals we heap on our enemies' heads aren't instruments of revenge but life-giving fire that might spark transformation. This kind of love only becomes possible when we stop sitting in God's judgment seat and instead gaze at Jesus, who had every right to condemn us but chose only to forgive. When we truly see how Christ loved us first, our icy hearts melt, and we become free to love others—not through willpower, but through transformation.