Romans 8:1-11 No Condemnation
I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions because hardly anyone, myself included, ever sticks to them. However, I love the feeling of a fresh start that the new year brings. I also find challenges motivating. How about you?
What better challenge than one that helps us to memorize God’s Word and apply it to our lives?
For the month of January, I’m focusing on memorizing Romans chapter 8. I would love to have you join me! Even if you don’t memorize the whole thing, just the practice of trying to memorize it and thinking about it will work it further into your head and heart.
Each week I’ll post the verses to work on memorizing as well as some journaling prompts to help you think and pray through how to apply the verses to your own life.
Here’s the schedule:
Week of January 3 - Romans 8:1-11
Week of January 10 - Romans 8:12-17
Week of January 17 - Romans 8:18-25
Week of January 24 - Romans 8:26-30
Week of January 31 - Romans 8:31-39
You can use any translation you would like.
Are you new to memorizing verses? Here are some tips and suggestions.
Let’s look a little deeper at Romans 8:1-11.
First, it’s always a good idea to understand the context of a particular passage or chapter, so I encourage you to read chapter 7 first.
Read through Romans 8:1-11 and then here are some journaling prompts to help you meditate on it.
1. Verse 1 says that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. If you aren’t sure if you are in Christ, that’s the most important issue to settle. Read here.
If you are in Jesus, do you still struggle with feeling condemned? According to verse 2-4, why are you no longer condemned? That’s what is true, regardless of your feelings. God isn’t making you feel condemned. If you struggle with those feelings, explore why that is. Perhaps there’s a past wound that needs to be brought into the light and given to Jesus to heal.
2. Verses 5-11 These verses explain the status of those who are in Christ and those who are not. Take time to examine your life. No one, God included, expects you to be perfect. If you look back at chapter 7:14-25, Paul clearly struggled with sin. Struggling doesn’t make you not a Christian. It just means you’re human. But what is your mind generally governed by? Do you live by the flesh or by the Spirit? Can others tell by your life alone that you follow Jesus? Later in chapter 8, verse 16, it says that God’s Spirit in us testifies that we belong to Him.
As you journal and pray through these verses and work on memorizing them, ask God to speak to you through them.
Would you like some other perspectives on these verses? Here are some other bloggers who are writing about these verses also:
Https://marthagrimmbrady.com/january-2022-spiritual-growth-challenge