Iron Rose Sister Ministries

When I read Romans 12:9-21, I sigh and long for a world in which this text is lived out. These practical, specific instructions of how to live love involve a conscious commitment to put others before ourselves.

Today, I invite you into my own prayer, based on this text.

⁹ Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
Heavenly Father, may I be so filled with your love that my life is an outpouring of that love. Help me to hate what you hate and long for your goodness—not whatever I think might be good.

¹⁰ Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
My sisterly affection sometimes does not extend beyond those I am comfortable loving. Help me to celebrate and honor the beauty that You see in others.

¹¹ Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
The world is turned a bit upside down right now and the ways in which I have enjoyed fervently serving in the past have been stripped away. May the zealous, fervent fire of Your Spirit continue to burn in me, leading me to serve You and serve others in different, but awesome ways. No act of service is too small, and it is not a competition. Help me remember that.

¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Hope. What a word! Hope is transformative. Hope is uplifting. Hope keeps us going when the trials and tribulations seem never-ending. Help me to be a beacon of hope that points others to You, the ultimate source of hope. May I remember that you offer Light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks for the reminder that when I am constant in prayer, I continue to see hope.

¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Hospitality, Lord? How do I show hospitality during a pandemic? Your Son embodied hospitality though He never had a home in which to invite others. He went where the people were and met their needs. Help me to see others’ needs with Your eyes and seek out ways to continue to show hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
Believe it or not, not everyone likes me. Not everyone agrees with my opinion. But is that the extent of the persecution I am feeling right now, Lord? It’s humbling to realize that there are those that face true, brutal persecution, even within their own families. May you pour out such blessings on those individuals that they are led to repentance from their persecution.

¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
And when there is repentance, may I rejoice instead of falling into the trap of the older brother of Your prodigal son (Luke 15). May I be willing to get uncomfortable and weep alongside those who are broken and weeping. And then, when you bring us back to a place of rejoicing, may the party be such that others long to join in the celebration!

¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
Harmony comes through unity in You. It does not depend on me, nor my way of doing things. My view of the problem, and even my view of the solution, may not be the best. God, You’ve got this. Help me to listen to Your wisdom and to hear the voice and perspective of others.

¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
Are my actions and intentions honorable?

¹⁸ If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
Am I doing what I can, when and how I can? Or am I only making a minimal effort?

¹⁹ Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Thank You for being our Avenger, Defender, Redeemer, Comforter... Please help me trust You and Your timing.

²⁰ To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Who is my enemy, Lord? And how can I serve him?

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Father God, You are good. May I cling to You and Your goodness. In You and through You, evil has already been overcome through the sacrifice of Your Son. It is in His name that I lift up these prayers in humble thanksgiving for sharing with us these words through the apostle Paul.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.

In the midst of the pandemic, it is much harder to stay connected in the traditional ways. There is less physical contact. Face masks, which are necessary for our protection, can physically mask a lot of the facial expressions and body language that we use to feel connected. Virtual gatherings have replaced in-person gatherings.

We all long to be back together again, praising God through song as one voice. Some friends are tallying how many hugs they owe one another once we can be together again.

In the meantime, I want to share with you a song I wrote the semester before graduating from Harding University. It has also been published in the book In God’s Right Hand: Whom Shall I Fear?This song is my prayer for you today.

God’s Right Hand We Hold
Will you think and pray for me
As I think and pray for you?
While we’re apart in time and space
It’s all that we can do.

Chorus:
Our lives are held in God’s hands,
He is in control.
When so many things tear us away,
God’s right hand we hold.

We both call God our Father,
Our bond is more than friends.
And through the blood of Jesus,
The friendship never ends.

Written by Kara Benson, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight” (Phil. 1:9).

Paul prays that the Christians in Philippi may have a love that is growing in knowledge and increasing in insight. That requires intentionality. It is an investment of time and energy. It takes effort to really get to know someone, and it takes intentionality to act on that knowledge. Intentionality is desire coupled with action, and it generates meaningful relationships.

We are not going to build relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ solely by showing up for service on Sundays and slipping out the side door after the last song. This is a truth I have learned from personal experience. Deep relationships do not occur by happenstance; we cannot expect to somehow “fall into” strong relationships. Rather we must make the conscious decision to pursue and build strong relationships.

According to the command given in Titus 2:4-5, older Christian women should

“train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God” (Titus 2:4-5).

Having been married less than five years, I have a lot to learn. This past spring, a sister intentionally initiated a weekly study with me. In this mentoring relationship, she is teaching me and I am learning from her about how to be a better wife. Even though she is getting older, she is very active in the kingdom. She is connected to the true vine and bearing much fruit (John 15).

On two different occasions when my husband was traveling for work, a sister in our congregation invited me over for dinner with her family. Although she is investing in the lives of her three young children, she is also intentional in getting to know me well enough to know what is going on in my life. She knows how to reach out to others and is deliberate in doing so. Hebrews 10:24 says, “

Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”

We are called to devote mental effort in contemplating how we may best encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ. It requires being intentional and involved in one another’s lives outside of the church building.

Another element of intentional relationships is being mindful of others in different seasons of life. I greatly appreciate Michelle’s most recent book, One Single Reason, because it deepens the discussion about singleness and supports sisters in Christ seeking to better understand each other. “Deep love for my single sisters” and “the same deep love for my married friends who long to know how to better support their single sisters” are the first two motivations united by the one single reason for the journey: love. “Even through misunderstandings and the lack of awareness on all sides,” Michelle writes, “one of the most beautiful outcomes has been the love expressed” (pg. 12). Do you hear that? This is a love that desires depth of relationship, motivates us to learn and grow, and seeks to better connect with our sisters in Christ, all while graciously covering over our mistakes and missteps along the way (1 Pet. 4:8).

Second Peter 1:5-8 urges us to add the attributes of knowledge, kindness, and love (among others) to our faith:

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Not only will continually growing in these characteristics prevent us from being unfruitful in Christ, it will also strengthen and deepen our relationships with one another.

I would like to conclude by extending our discussion of intentionality to those around us who are lost. In John 4:35, Jesus declares,

“Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”

Are our eyes open to the harvest every day at our workplace? Do we see the harvest in our neighborhood, across the street? What about the harvest in the pew to our left? Hebrews 9:27 warns, “man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” Let us tell everyone we can about the gospel in the hopes that, when they are standing before the judgment seat on judgment day, they know and are known by the Judge.

God is intentional in His relationship with us. Likewise, we should be intentional in our relationships with others. How are you being intentional in your relationships with your family in Christ? Are you putting yourself in situations where you can connect with people who need the gospel?

Written by Kim Solis, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Mexico and Oregon.

If you were to take a poll on the streets of any city world-wide, asking the public what Christians are known for, what do you think they would say? Would we be known for pointing out the sin in the community around us? For taking a “holier-than-thou” attitude when talking about moral issues? Would we be known for adhering to beliefs of a particular political party or for fighting among ourselves about the “proper” interpretation of Scripture?

When my children were in grade school and middle school, the boys played on many soccer teams. At one game, while waiting for the excitement to begin, I was talking with another mom in the stands. The conversation swung around to what we do for a living and I explained to her that my husband and I are Christians and work for a Bible Institute helping to prepare people to be more active in their local congregations and even to go out as missionaries to plant churches in new cities. She was surprised and said, “Wow, I didn’t know you were Christians.”

The game started and I sat there with a lump in my throat and a weight on my chest. Why was she so surprised that we are Christians? What did she observe in our examples, especially mine, since she didn’t really know my husband very well, that never made her think that I held Christ and His teachings in high-esteem? I wrestled with this for months and finally got up the nerve to confront her feelings at another soccer game.

“How come you were surprised to hear that we are Christians?” I asked, fearing her response would shed light on un-Christlike attitudes or actions that I had inadvertently been showing to those around me. “Well,” she seemed to search for the right words, “it’s just that you are, well, you are both so... nice.” After talking a few more minutes I discovered that her previous experience with “Christians” had been very aggressive, rude and condescending. She had been told that her beliefs were not correct and that she was in sin. She had never been shown love and acceptance, only judgement and exclusion. I was relieved but also very concerned.

What did Jesus say to his disciples after assuming the role of servant and washing their feet in John chapter 13? “And by this everyone will know that you are my disciples...” By what? By your zeal for the truth? By your desire to confront the world of its sin? By your refusing to accept people who practice anything different from you? No. He says by loving one another. He just washed the feet of those who would betray him, deny him and leave him alone, nailed to a cross. He didn’t point His finger and condemn them, even though one of them would die at his own hand without repenting of his sin.

Love. Agape. We have heard the definition: a decision to love unconditionally, desiring and doing the best for someone regardless of whether they deserve it or not.

Does the world deserve our love? No. Do we deserve the love of God? No. That is what is so incredibly powerful in Jesus’ declaration. The world will know we are of Christ when we love one another because no one loves those who don’t think like them, who don’t act like them, who haven’t earned love in one way or another.

Jesus loved the woman about to be stoned because of her adultery. Jesus loved the tax collectors even though they were padding their pockets from the hard work of honest people. Jesus loved the men and women who spit upon him and screamed for his crucifixion. Jesus loved me and loved you even when we didn’t believe in Him and even when believing, we still fall into old habits and act as if we had never heard of His grace and mercy.

Come on, Christians. We must drop our shields of pride and “knowledge” and simply love one another with a pure and undiluted love that comes from Christ and not from our own hearts. Let’s leave the judging to Him and let us unite in love to show His love to those who need it most. Let’s love the homosexuals, the drunkards, the addicts, the liars, the lonely, and the desperate. We were one of them not too long ago. Pointing fingers and revealing sin will not attract more people to Christ. His merciful love and grace are what they need to hear... and to see.

Once someone falls in love with Christ, then they... then we... will be open to face our faults and correct our actions. We can’t do it on our own, anyway, we need Him to cleanse us.

To love God is to love others.
Mark 12:33
“And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

It doesn’t matter what you offer to God: your zeal, your faith, your purity and devotion. To love God and, therefore, to love your neighbor is worth even more.

Let the world know we are His disciples... by the love we show to one another.

Written by Kara Benson, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Little Rock, Arkansas

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”– Luke 10:27

What does it mean to love God?
A few elements come to mind...

Obedience. “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me” (John 14:21). If we love the Lord, we will obey him. 1 John 4:18 teaches us, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” Why? The second half of the verse answers, “because fear has to do with punishment.” If we are living in obedience to God, we have no reason to fear! We don’t have to be afraid of impending judgment for our repented sins or agonize over our future inevitable errors because God sent his Son to take our place. God’s perfect love provided a way to drive out our fear. We can rest assuredly and live confidently in the peace of a right relationship with the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. And if we truly love God, then we will want to obey him – not from fear of punishment, but from the heart.

Pursuit. “I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands” (Ps. 119:10). There is a difference between having warm feelings for someone and being madly in love. When we are in love with someone, we will stay up late to talk with them, think of them throughout the day, and set aside special time to spend with them. We delight in learning details about them, miss them when we are apart, and eagerly anticipate being reunited. Psalm 63:1 says, “Earnestly I seek you, my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Is this our attitude about spending time with our Lord?

Overflow. “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matt. 5:14). When you love someone deeply, others notice. Your love for that person is so great, it often overflows into everyday conversation. Grandmas love sharing photos of their grandkids. Engaged couples often begin sentences with, “My fiancée...” New parents can’t seem to stop talking about their kids. “For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). Do others see and hear evidence of our love for God?

What does it mean to love others?
The world asserts that to love someone means you must accept or approve of everything they believe or do. However, true love is seeking the best interest of someone else, as we see in Philippians 2. We love others by serving, comforting, encouraging, and challenging them to grow. If we see someone in sin without trying to help, how can we say we truly love them? James 5:19-20 states, “Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” Putting someone’s long-term good above our own temporary comfort is an act of love; their eternal soul is more important than forgoing an awkward conversation or keeping a superficial peace.

Love is patient, kind, and forgiving. This can be hard. This is where we can easily mess up. If we are not patient, kind, and forgiving in our communication, then our message is ruined. May the Lord give us wisdom to discern the right timing and the right words. Our heart must be right. We must be honest and willing to confess our own sins as well. Looking back, I am thankful for those who have loved me enough to show me what I needed to change.

Our love matters. Galatians 6:10 teaches, “do good to everyone, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” While we are called to be slaves to all (1 Cor. 9:19, Mk. 10:44), we have a special calling to love and serve our family in Christ. Hebrews 6:10 says, “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” I absolutely love this verse! Every time we help someone, every time we serve... God sees. God knows. God remembers. Sisters, it’s all worth it! Our love matters.

When we love God and love others, we are fulfilling the first and second greatest commandments. How are you showing a love for God and a love for others, especially His people, in your daily life?

Written by: Deanna Brooks, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Searcy, AR.
Friendship. Fellowship. Togetherness. Caring. Our Creator made us for relationships, and in the past few months, because of COVID-19, most of us have realized how precious our time is with “one another.”

Our times of being together for worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ went to online events. Many of us had to postpone family gatherings and celebrations, and we missed “one another.”

“One another”... ἀλλήλων (ah LAY loan) is two words in English, but it is only one word in Greek. I like that thought.

ἀλλήλων is used 100 times in 94 New Testament passages. Forty-seven give instructions to Christians.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He responded, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39.)

Jesus response was from the Shema, a passage every Jewish child learned early in life (Deuteronomy 6:4-9).

From the “one-another” passages, we learn how to love our neighbor as ourselves:
Be at peace.
Don’t grumble.
Be of the same mind.
Gently and patiently tolerate.
Be kind, tender-hearted, forgiving.
Seek good.
Confess sins.
Love.
Serve.
Be devoted.
Give preference.
Be in submission.
Speak truth.
Comfort.
Encourage.
Stimulate to love and good deeds.
Pray.
Be hospitable.

We sing “Bind us together LORD...with cords that cannot be broken.” King Solomon wrote, “And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him – a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Eccl. 4:12).

Jesus told His followers: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

First John 4:20 tells us how important it is to love one another: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” These are powerful words, just as relevant to our lives today as they were 2000 years ago when John wrote them.

Jesus prayed for unity in John 17:11: “...they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.” This prayer was not just for those disciples with Jesus at that moment; later, in verses 20-21, He prays: “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

Wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if we put “one-another” into everyday practice in our lives?