The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Marks of the True Christian (Part 1)

Episode Date: November 10, 2023

What does it mean to be a true Christian? What do I need to do in order to live a Christian life? Jeff Cavins dives into Scripture to share twenty different commands that dictate how a Christian ought to live. Jeff emphasizes the importance of understanding the marks of a true Christian in today’s culture. Snippet from the Show Our words can have a lasting and significant impact on those around us. Recall this whenever you speak. Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail]. Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow for full shownotes!

Welcome to the Jeff Kavens show, where we talk about the Bible, discipleship, and evangelization, putting it all together in living as activated disciples. This is show 349, Marks of the True Christian. Welcome back to our series on the show. Good to have you. I'm Jeff Kavans, and we are in the middle of a of a series we're talking about important content for family formation. Truth of the matter is you could use anything from the Bible or any subject from the Bible for family formation, but sometimes it helps to kind of encapsulate it, put it into little bundles that you can share so that people have a little bit easier time conveying it, understanding it and conveying it to their family.

I cannot think of a better time right now than to learn about, about what you're what we should pass on to our children, my gosh, as we watch the news these days and what has happened in the Middle East, there is such a contrast in what we are as Christians and what we're trying to teach our children to become. And we're hearing all kinds of views in the news. And our children are too, and they're getting it on social media. And so now, more than ever, and that again, you could say at almost any time, is a time now to share with our children what what does it mean to be a Christian what does it mean to be a person who follows Jesus and so as we have taken a look at some different topics in the past today

when it comes to the important content for family formation I want to take a look today at the marks of the true Christian the marks of a true Christian I didn't come up with that title That's actually the title as a heading in part of Paul's letter to the Romans. And so what I would like to do is share today with you a segment of Paul's writings in Romans chapter 12, verses 9 through 21, where he gives literally 20 commands in that section, 20 commands that you can take and apply to your children, teach your children. There are 20 commands that will change your life. They'll change your family. they'll change your parish and oh we pray lord will change the world because everything we're seeing on the news these days is countered by what is in these verses today and i've been getting a lot of

questions from people what do we do what are we supposed to do how do we react to what's happening in the news it's so wrong you know that's what people are crying out it's so wrong and so many different levels and my my answer is you need to become who you are as John Paul the second said in his in his message to families families be who you are become who you are and that's that's the answer to the situation in the world today is that the world needs activated disciples the world needs active disciples the world needs people who are living their faith not just in their heart but out in public and our children are really in for a battle in the future if we don't equip them, if we don't equip them with the basics of what it means to be a Christian and to

follow Jesus. And this falls primarily on parents as far as the responsibility goes. And so these are serious times. And if I speak with a sense of urgency today, it's because it is urgent for us today. It is urgent for us today to pay close attention to what the scriptures are telling us and how we can teach our children. So in light of everything that has been going on in the world, contrast what Paul wrote with the world's behavior contrast what Paul wrote look at what he wrote and then contrast

that with the worldview that's out there and this is I believe what changes the world and the question is will we live like this will we live like this so we're going to take a look here at Romans chapter 12 and so I'll put this in the show notes for you

you don't have to worry about that in fact I'm going to put it in the show notes in a form that delineates each part, all 20 parts of what Paul is saying that we should become like. And think of this, seriously, think of this in juxtaposition to what's happening in the world and the way that other people are teaching their children all around the world or what they are silent about when it comes to their children and their actions. Okay, so let's look at this, shall we? Let's look at this. Romans chapter 12 and verse 9.

I'm going to read it to you, and then we'll look at the individual parts real quickly here. He says in Romans chapter 12, starting in verse 9, let love be genuine, hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good, love one another with brotherly affection, outdo one another in showing honor. Never flag and zeal, be aglow with the spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them.

Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited. Repay no one for evil, but take thought, take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peacefully. live peaceably with all 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 and know know if your enemy is hungry feed him if he is thirsty give him drink for by doing so you will heap burning coals upon his head and then finally do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good there it is that's uh romans chapter 12 and verse 9 through 21, 20 things that will change your life. And more importantly, today in this podcast, will change your family. And it's going to change your parish and your world as well. Take a break. We come back.

We'll take a look at these individually. And we'll rifle through them and give you some suggestions on why this is important for you to teach your family these 20 commands that Paul is talking about when it comes to the mark. of the true Christian. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. Hello, my name is Father Mark Tupes, author of the Rejoiced Advent Meditation series, and if this Advent, you're looking for a peaceful encounter with God, I invite you to order a copy of Rejoice and Advent Pilgrimage into the Heart of Scripture Year B. You can find out more at rejoiceprogram.com. God bless you.

Welcome back to the show this week. We are talking about the true marks of the Christian, or you could say the marks of the true Christian. And I say, boy, Jeff, is there really such a thing as a true Christian? Yes, there is. And Paul's talking about it right here. Romans 12, 9 through 21. Let's take a look at it. Now, these are in chunks of truth that you can easily break up. And I broke them up for you in the show notes. And by the way, if you do want to write me, you can write me at the Jeff Kaven's show at ascensionpress.com. if you have a question or a comment, the Jeffcaven show at ascensionpress.com.

Okay, so the first one, the first grouping here is, let love be genuine, hate what is evil and hold fast to what is good. Those are three of them right there in one verse. Let love be genuine. We teach our family what genuine love is. Genuine love is when we care about the other person's eternal life, and we are willing to lay our lives down for,

others. No greater friend you'll find than someone who will lay their life down. We are to actually develop what Paul says is an attitude towards evil. The second thing is to hate what is evil. Hate what is evil. That is to not put up with it, not to ignore it, not to be indifferent about evil. We teach our children that we do hate evil. That is not, we don't hate people, but we hate evil. Evil is the narrative of the enemy. And we don't want any part of that. So what do we do? Well, Paul says the third thing in that verse 9, he says, hold fast to what is good. So there's the juxtaposition between evil and good, and we hold fast to what is good. How do you hold fast? Well, it's not something that you just say. To hold fast is to be faithful. And to be

faithful is to acknowledge mentally what God is saying in his word, and then personally entrust yourself. So let love be genuine, hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good. In verse 10, he goes on and says, love one another. And it's kind of a progression here, isn't it? In verse 9, he says, let love be genuine. And then he kind of gives an example of this in verse 10, love one another with brotherly affection. Love one another. with brotherly affection. That's the fourth one there. Boy, if we did that in the world, wouldn't it be different if we really loved one another with brotherly affection? Now, you might be saying to me, Jeff, you don't know my family. And my brothers and I, we fought and so forth.

Well, I know that, but you know what I'm saying here. We love each other how familial, in a familial way, brotherly affection. We're family. We stick together. We don't kill each other. And then he goes on at the end of verse 10, and he says that we outdo one another in showing honor. We outdo one another. How? By money, collecting things and property and car. No, we outdo one another. How? We outdo one another in showing honor. We treat each other with honor. We are not envious. We're not jealous. That's something to teach your kids right now as they're in junior high or elementary school. We outdo one another, not by running faster necessarily, but by out honoring one another. Then in the third verse, verse 11, never flag in zeal. That is, we never,

we never let up in our zeal for the Lord. We don't have timeouts for our zeal, but we're aglow with the spirit. We're a glow with the spirit. Now this is powerful stuff right here. We must pay attention to the zeal of the family. Do your kids know that you have zeal for God? Are you a glow with the spirit where they can see you? They know who you are. They know what it is to be a Christian because man, mom's on fire. Mom and dad are on fire for the Lord. They're serving the Lord at the parish and with their friends and opening up the home. Never flag in zeal. Be aglow with the spirit. And the only way can be aglow with the spirit is to have a relationship with the Holy Spirit. Carry on a conversation throughout the day.

Rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. When you pray, know that the Spirit of God is powerful. It can get done what needs to be done in our families. And so having a relationship with the Holy Spirit is something that you can teach your children, which most people don't know what that looks like to have a relationship. Oh yeah, we do with Jesus because he was a man. the father is a father but the spirit now that takes some time to get used to doesn't it well we can be a glow with the spirit and we can talk of the things of god and talk about the holy spirit in our

families verse 12 rejoice in your hope be patient in tribulation be constant in prayer every one of those all three of those in one verse could be an entire podcast rejoice in your hope hope you know you can teach your children that at baptism at baptism they receive three theological virtues three theological virtues faith hope and charity and so if you if your children are baptized every one of them has hope in their soul and so we need to rejoice in our lives why we rejoice in hope that hope is not a hope so that hope is a better future based on who God is and what he has done. We know the heart of our father. We know his family plan.

We can rejoice concerning the future. We rejoice in hope. And we are patient in tribulation at the same time. That is one thing that we need to teach our children is to be patient in tribulation. when they are struggling with tribulation at school and oh don't they or on social media don't they we teach them to be patient patient being patient is not is not translated putting up with that's not what patience is patience is waiting on the lord for the lord to work in lives to work in this situation we're waiting on god and we we are hoping

we are rejoicing in our hope we're being patient in tribulation we are different we don't act out we don't we don't we don't hit back and we don't we don't uh do i for i but we are patient in tribulation and we how do you do that well paul then says the third point in that verse we're constant in prayer so if you want to rejoice in hope and be patient in tribulation you need to be constant in prayer and have that relationship with the lord as the kids are leaving for the day to go to school to remind them it's going to get better it's going to get better and be patient and pray throughout the day talk to the lord throw your cares upon the lord for he cares for you verse 13 contribute to the needs of the saints contribute to the needs of the saints that's one that we're called on to do here

contribute to the needs of the saints practice hospitality is the second one in that verse isn't this amazing. Twenty of these things. Contribute to the needs of the saints. So the formation of our family always involves a looking out from the family, a supporting of others from the family. May it be missions or ministries in the church or a campaign for a school or a diocese. We are contributing to the needs of other people. And that's the saints. And we saw that as an example, Paul's writings, you know, he got a call from Macedonia, and he raised money to bring to them, to bring to them money that would be used for their daily needs. So the true Christian, the true disciple, is not inward, but is always thinking about needs of

others as well. We certainly saw this in what's happening in Gaza with the war over there, how many people wanted to do something. They wanted to give, whether it be blood or whether it be things necessary for living, for the Gossans, and people were thinking about that. And so looking out from the family, we contribute to the needs of the saints. And then in the family, what do we do? We practice hospitality. We bring people to our house.

One of the things that has always impressed me about families that have kids that are on fire. And I can think of several of them right now that I know. One of the common denominators of families who are on fire and the kids that are on fire is that there is an active practicing of hospitality in their home. And the kids are used to people coming over to the house and having dinner or an evening of fellowship. They're used to it. And when I talk to them, they love it.

They love it when there are others that come over to the house. and sometimes they bring their kids, and they love that as well. Okay, so that's verses 9, 10, 11, and 12, and 13. So you got one, two, three, four, five. You got five there. And one more for good measure. And then what we're going to do is on the next show, I'm going to take up the rest of them and go over the rest of those

and bring up some other ideas when it comes to teaching these. and concluding these things that Paul's mentioning in family formation. So finally on this show today, and then next week we'll pick up with chapter 12 and verse 15. Bless those who persecute you. Verse 14. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them. Wow, is this one powerful?

How many times do we leave from work or church or your, you're, extended relatives house and on the way home you're you're cursing them you're cursing something that happened at church you're cursing your brother your sister and who guess who's listening those little tauts those little kids they're listening to you as you curse other people don't do that but bless those who persecute you look to the bright side say something good pray for them mention the fact that there's so many good things about what that person stands for i i know that But I heard this years ago, I heard this years ago, I was talking to a young man who was, he was considering the priesthood for a while. And we were talking about it.

And unfortunately, he decided not to pursue the seminary. And I asked him why. And he said this. And I thought it was very sad. He said, all the time that I was growing up, on the way home from church on Sunday, I heard nothing but my parents tearing the priest apart. And I thought, oh, wow. that should never be. That should never be. And so his decision not to enter the seminary and pursued the priesthood was due to the fact that for so many years he did not hear his parents

bless those who persecute you or bless those who didn't give a great homily. But he heard more of the type of cursing and putting down of other people. So that's a real lesson for us to practice that on the way home from church on on sunday morning so those are some important things on this show let love be genuine hate what is evil hold fast to what is good love one another with brotherly affection uh be a glow with the holy spirit and keep that zeal going rejoice in your hope rejoice in it be patient in the tribulation and then of course be constant in prayer and contribute to the needs of the saints practice hospitality too and the last thing is don't curse people bless those who persecute you now next next show we're going to be

getting into a oh we got we got half of them to go rejoice with those who rejoice live in harmony with one another associate with the lowly repay no evil for evil it goes on and on if possible so far as it demands upon you the demand it depends upon you live peacefully with all wow if your your enemy's hungry feed them all these kinds of things we'll take a look at that in the next episode of the Jeff Kaven show. And again, if you want the notes here, I'll send them to you. Again, if you want them, text my name, Jeff Kavens. You can text it to the number 3-3-777. 3-7-7. But you've got to write Jeff Kaven's one word. All right, my friends, let's pray. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, we love you, Lord. We thank you for

giving us your word. And we delight in what Paul wrote here in Romans 12. us, Lord, as parents, as aunts and uncles and grandparents to put into practice the things that Paul's talking about in our own families, may it become part of the fabric of our formation in our families. In Jesus' name, amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen. I love you. I look forward to talking to you on the next episode. Thank you.