Romans Chapters 12

Note: PRS.work is a plug-and-play video Bible Study. Everything you need to connect the Bible to your work is in the video above. Feel free to press play and just listen. Or follow along with the transcript below.

Introduction

Welcome to PRS.work, a video series that helps us hear the Bible together at work. In this video you'll hear a brief introduction, a Psalm read as an opening prayer, a long passage from the Bible, and a commentary about what this means for work, workers, and the workplace.

Our Public Reading of Scripture today is from the letters the Apostles wrote to the early church. Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsus, wrote this letter to the church in Rome.

During the reign of Roman Emperor Nero, Rome had a significant anti-Jewish sentiment which included early Christians. Followers of Jesus met in undercover house churches, where they most likely heard Paul’s letter read aloud for their instruction.

Romans 12

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

³ For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. ⁴ For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, ⁵ so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. ⁶ Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; ⁷ or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; ⁸ he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

⁹ Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; ¹¹ not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; ¹² rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; ¹³ distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. ¹⁹ Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰ Therefore

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Pause for Reflection

Now we'll take a moment to reflect silently on what we have just read and heard in Scripture.

Finding God's Calling For Your Work

From the Theology of Work Bible Commentary on Romans

With the understanding that the ultimate image of calling in the Bible is the calling to follow Jesus, we can explore callings to particular kinds of work. If by “calling,” we mean a direct, unmistakable command from God to take up a particular task, job, or profession, then very few people in the Bible received an individual call from God to a specific kind of work.

Although God does not give most people a direct, individual, unmistakable call to a particular job or profession, God does give guidance to people in less dramatic forms, including Bible study, prayer, Christian community and individual reflection. For discerning God’s vocational guidance, there are three major considerations: 1) the needs of the world, 2) your skills and gifts, and 3) your truest desires.

The first consideration is the needs of the world. The single strongest indicator of what God wants you to do is probably your awareness of what needs to get done to make the world more like what God intends. This doesn’t necessarily mean huge, global problems, but simply anything in the world that needs to be done. 

The second consideration is your skills and gifts. God gives people gifts for accomplishing the work he wants them to do. The Bible names some of the gifts and skills that God imparts: “We have gifts that differ, according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.” (Romans 12:6-8)

Finally, the Bible says that your truest or deepest desires are also important to God. “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)

These three considerations — the needs of the world, your skills and gifts, and your truest desires — are guides, but they are not absolutes. In Christ, believers have perfect freedom. “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)

That means you have the freedom to take risks, to fail, and to make mistakes. God might lead you to a job that you know nothing about, have no present knack for, and don’t think you’d like. Conversely, you might discover late in life that you missed God’s professional calling for you. Take heart, at the end, you will not be judged on getting the right job or fulfilling your God-given potential. You will be judged on the merits of Jesus Christ, applied to you only by God’s grace in giving you faith. The calling to belong to Christ is God’s only indispensable calling.

How does this apply to your work?