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Do the most unpleasant or scary clean-up job you can think of. That could be literally cleaning something that isn’t particularly pleasant. Or it could be helping someone who you know is drifting from God – not always a nice or easy thing to do.

Romans 12: 3–16

Because I’m bursting with gratitude to God for His gracious gift to me I just want to share some pearls of wisdom with you that have been helpful to me:

 Don’t think of yourself more highly than you should. Be modest in your thinking, and don’t think you’re bringing your goodness to God – no – because it’s God who brings it to you in the first place.

 Remember, we all have a different part to play in the body of Christ and God in His grace has given us gifts to share.

 Whatever our gift is, we should use it for the benefit of others, in an open-hearted, openhanded way.

 Remember to love one another warmly and sincerely as Christians, and show respect for one another.

 Work hard and don’t shirk. Serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion.

 Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles, and remember to pray at all times.

 Share your belongings with fellow Christians in need, and open your homes to strangers.

 Ask God to bless those who persecute you – yes, that’s what I said – ask Him to bless them, not to curse.

 Stay connected: be happy with those who are happy, weep with those who weep.

 Have the same concern for everyone. Do not be proud, but accept humble duties and be prepared to roll your sleeves up.

Lastly, never think you’re better than anyone else and have all the answers.

 

CHALLENGES:

Green: Do some literal cleaning. This will work best if you find somewhere that’s personally important to you (like your street) or to your community (like a local school or a care home garden).

Yellow: Most likely, there’s a scenario you’d rather not serve in – today, do it. Do the whole office’s sandwich run. Clean all the sweaty gym equipment.

Red: A huge, intimidating, profound act of service: think of a friend or family member who is drifting away from faith. Think about how you might call them back – well and sensitively.

 

Contributed by The Apostle Paul - Paul comes onto the scene as a hater of Christians and Christianity named Saul but after meeting Jesus - decides that He's The Way and the Truth and the Life and changes his name to Paul and spent the rest of his life telling others about Jesus, planting and serving churches and writing letters - many of which are bundled in the New Testamant part of the bible.