Romans 7:21-25a - So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the Law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

This devotion pairs with this weekend's Lutheran Hour sermon, which can be found at lutheranhour.org.

The Christ-followers in ancient Rome had plenty of people they could identify as villains. They could villainize their government, which had a track record of persecuting the members of their group (see Acts 18:2). They could villainize the purveyors of the dominant culture, with its values inimical to all they held dear (see Romans 1:24-27). And they could villainize each other, which may have been the most pressing problem in front of them: each other. It's one thing to have an evil tyrant at work, or an unwholesome politician in Washington. It's another thing altogether to have a villain in your family, an enemy in the gates, in your household, in your church.

Paul was writing to people in the church. They believed that the crucified and risen Jesus had become the head of a new family God is gathering, and that Jesus had given them God's Spirit to lead them in a world-wide mission to expand this multi-ethnic, multi-cultural kingdom family. However, even though they had been embraced by this truth together, they still found ways to villainize and victimize each other. Some Christians in Rome saw themselves (and those who lived like them) as strong in the faith. And everyone else, they saw as weak. Others saw themselves (and those who lived like them) as pure, and those who didn't, as defiled, at worst, or half-devoted, at best. The so-called strong despised the weak and the weak resented the strong (see Romans 14).

Paul responds to this problem, in this part of the letter, by inviting them, and us, to lean into his story. Paul tells his story, which is our story, the greater story we're all in together, the story that leans on Jesus. Villains, victims—we're all the same. We have an enemy, and he is us. And we have an enemy greater than us, an enemy called sin. We are all guilty and deserve God's judgment. We are all trapped in evil systems from which we cannot escape. None of us are as pure as we'd like to be, nor as strong as we hope to be. But, in Jesus, all of us are loved more than we ever thought possible.

And Jesus changes the way we see others, even our villains, even the villain that is us. Jesus died and rose for all. That fact alone makes everyone worthy, worthy of a welcome, worthy of reconsideration, worthy of love. And humanly speaking, loving someone is much easier done when you've taken a moment to hear their story.

WE PRAY: Father God, before I write someone off as a villain or a victim, help me pause long enough to lean into their story. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, Speaker of The Lutheran Hour.

Reflection Questions:

1. Who are the most emotionally draining, real-life "villains" you have to deal with?

2. Without enabling abuse, is there a way for you to learn their story, to better understand them?

3. If you imagined that person praying the words of Romans 7:15-25 (clinging to Christ, struggling with sin, though not yet victorious over it), how would that change your view of them?

Today's Bible Readings: 2Kings 1-3    James 1

To Download Devotion MP3 to your computer, right click here and select "Save Link As" or "Save Target As" or "Download Linked File As"