Skittles in Romans 12

Have you ever read something in the Bible and said, "Oh my gosh, this is amazing!"?  (Was that !"? at the end of that sentence grammatically correct?)  Well, Romans 12 recently did that to me.  That chapter is like a bag of Skittles (little pieces of goodness that you savor one by one).  Here's a couple of my insights:

Verses 4-8 (NIV)
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

This so reminds me of the importance of finding YOUR purpose--what feels natural to you, not what you feel like you should be doing.  An arm is great at reaching, bracing, carrying, etc.  Now how great of a job does it do at digesting food?  Poor, horrible.  I guess we'll just cut it off.  :)

You can't do everything.  Find and focus on what you were made to do.  But, that doesn't mean we shouldn't try new things (those arms can also be useful when being used for a handstand).

Now just imagine if we can bring all this insight finding, developing, and using our God-given gifts collectively to further God's purpose.  Wowza!

And now some simple and short snippets (three Skittles for you):

Verse 12 (HCSB)
Rejoice in hope;
be patient in affliction;
be persistent in prayer.

(I typed it like that because I really "get it" when I pause after each statement and let it sink in.)

Verse 16c (third statement in that one verse, also HCSB)
Do not be wise in your own estimation.

(NIV's translation puts this as "Do not be conceited."  HCSB's translation really brings it home and makes you feel uncomfortable.)

Verse 17b (HCSB)
Try to do what is honorable in everyone's eyes.

(Be a person of CONSISTENT character.  You shouldn't have different sets of character traits that you would choose and then whip out depending on who you are about to interact with.)

What did I tell you?  SKITTLES!