I’ve been told most of my Christ following life that I needed to memorize scripture.
All of my Christ following life I have tried.
In all honesty …… I’ve failed miserably.
Every trick, every hack, every equation I have accessed to do it has failed.
As a result, in all of my Christ following life,
In all honesty …… I have carried a tremendous amount of guilt for that failure.
I’ve grown in my Christ following life, to know how exactly I’ve been created,
and how different my peers and I thought that I should be.
In all honesty ….. I’m a feeler and a thinker, but lean more to the feeling side.
I said all that to say this;
This morning I listened to the audio version of the Bible, Romans chapter 12, on line -cool British accent – Four times, not MEMORIZING much. I know what it says, I’ve been reading it for years, but to say it exactly – not so much.
Here for your perusal, is the “Deb Version” if you will, each verse, translated for ease of reading and understanding;
I think it came out well, and are really words I can live by.
v. 1 Present your body
v. 2 Renew your mind, transform it
v. 3 Think of yourself as God does
v.4 You do you. Your own calling.
v.5 Together we make a complete body, we need each other
v.6 Prophesy (In your own measure)
v.7 Serve. Teach.
v.8 Exhort. Contribute. Lead. Show mercy.
v.9 Love well. Hate evil.
v.10 Show honor (Out do each other in this)
v.11 Don’t be lazy. Serve enthusiastically.
v.12 Rejoice and pray, no matter what
v.13 Give and be kind
v.14 Bless the mean ones
v.15 YooHoo with those that YooHoo, and BooHoo with those that BooHoo
v.16 Live peacefully. Be nice to everyone.
v.17 Let God sort it out – You Be Nice!
v.18 Do what you can to be at peace
v.19 God’s got this.
v.20 Feed your enemy. Give him a drink. He’ll wonder what you’re up to.
v.21 Don’t let evil take over – Use the authority inside you to overcome
Simple enough? Yep.
In all honesty …… If you are at all like me, you won’t memorize this either, but you will remember some of the concepts better than the actual verses.
Now, if you are not at all like me, and need things straight up, linear, and the way they should/must/ought to be; I’ve placed the original script at the end of this post.
I hope this has been helpful.
Go with how you are created! Be happy just doing you – No body does you better!
Romans 12 King James Version (KJV)
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.
9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Thanks for sharing the simple, easy-to-memorize version of the Bible (Romans 12).
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I love this so much! Everytime I hear “Romans 12” spoken my heart perks up. Romans 12:2 is my life verse. LOVE!
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