Try to “Outdo” Each Other in Love

I was recently in church, and we as a church service have been going through Romans, and this past week, we were in chapter 12 verses 9 through 21.   Verse 10 was the one I wanted to highlight.  This says,  “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”  Through the rest of this section of text, it talks about different ways a person can show love to another person.  One important piece is making sure to serve the Lord through those who are around you.  It was also a good reminder to live in harmony with one another, whenever you are able.  Then lastly, we need to make sure to be kind and loving to those who persecute us.  

Our pastor, Josh, discussed how he is a very competitive person. He is a runner and very invested in sports.   He really likes competition and enjoys having and getting the chance to be a winner.  He will even compete sometimes with office work.  Who can get the most work done the quickest? However, Josh does highlight that he doesn’t always try to have competition with showing one another love.  He isn’t trying to show the most love in a week to someone.  He never even tries to think about this as a competition.  

Now granted, I think this could get very sour very quickly.  I think people would take this idea and make it toxic.  Because one good deed shouldn’t be in competition.  We really shouldn’t be trying to outdo one another in good works.  We were all made to do different purposes.  We were all made to help people in different ways.  This can’t be compared because each person will do what they are called to do at different times.  

There is a different version to this verse that I believe may help us understand it a bit better.  Another way to think or speak of this verse is through looking at the NIV (New International Version) which says, “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”  This shows it is all about showing more care and concern about others, over ourselves.  In this version, it does not sound as though it is a competition.  It isn’t about trying to do better than other christians, but it is about caring for others more than you care even for yourself.  

This was brought up at church during a time when I was witnessing a lot of people helping and serving others throughout my home state. This is actually because the town where my parents live as well as surrounding areas recently had a great deal of tragedy.  With the great amount of rain the state of Iowa has received this year, some of the rivers have started to overflow.  This is what has been done in Spencer, Iowa, where my parents live.  The levee for their river broke, and because of this, a great deal of houses have been flooded, families were evacuated, and businesses are momentarily or could be permanently closed.  The streets were completely covered in water for a handful of days. 

It has been very hard to see, but the thing I love to see is the responses of the many people who have come to help the town and community of Spencer.  For the first example, my mom and dad have offered their shower and washer and dryers for people to use. The people living in the town of Spencer weren’t allowed to use water to take showers or do laundry for a few days.  My parents are not connected to the city’s water because they live just on the outskirts of town, which placed them in the perfect position to offer this help to others.  They were able to be a blessing to so many others through this simple sacrifice.  My parents have also been very kind and helped other people clean up their house and their area to the best of their ability.  

Then there were others, such as Okoboji middle school which is a town about 15 miles north of Spencer, Iowa, that offered up the school as a place to evacuate.   Granted, the idea of having to stay in a middle school may not sound like paradise, but it was still a safe place to go where it was dry.  Then to go with this, many people started to bring a lot of donations, such as groceries, and water to drink for those who were evacuated to the middle school.  

One thing I love about communities is that they are often the most kind when it comes to big natural disasters or big tragedies.  Something about those big moments brings people out to do good deeds, helping and sacrificing for those who are hurting or who have lost a lot.  This is very important and this is something I hope stays consistent in society, especially in Christian circles.  However, I do struggle to believe we as people in society or even in Christian circles really try to “outdo” each other in love on a regular day, even when there wasn’t a huge tragedy on the news. We have the capability, but we need to remember to love and care even when it is not because of something huge occurring.   

To end this blog post, I will give a few challenges.  The first challenge is to find one person to help you, help others.  While I don’t want this challenge or any of this blog post to come off too much as an invitation to be in competition with others because I don’t want us to be competing and comparing Christians.  However, I do believe we can use other Christians and other mentors to encourage us to be the best people we can possibly be.  Then my second challenge is for you and that person to go and find a person to serve this week.  There are a lot of ways we can serve God through helping others in our communities.  I hope it will be something very enriching for you.