The Tragic Exchange

Series: Recalibrate | Week 2: Don't Bow to the Counterfeit

Day Three Romans 1:24-32

Pray: Invite God into your time and ask Him to speak to you, then read the passage.

24 So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. 25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. 26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. 28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. 29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. 32 They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. – Romans 1:24-32 (NLT)

Discover: Use the Discover section of your Recalibrate journal to write down your answers to the following observation and interpretation questions.
1. How does God respond to humanity’s rejection of Him?
2. Why do you think Paul includes such a long list of sins?
3. How have humans exchanged worship of the Creator for worship of created things?

Respond: Use the Respond section of your journal to answer the following application prompts.
1. What does this passage teach me about God?
2. How does this aspect of His character change my view of self and others?
3. What should I do in response and when?

For Further Learning:
“If you get to the end of this passage and don’t see yourself in it, you’ve missed the point.” – quote from JT English in this Knowing Faith podcast on Romans 1:18-32

For Families with Kids at Home:
Paul points out that all of us have the tendency to do things we know are wrong, but we do them anyway. Ask your kids, “Can you think of a time when you knew something was wrong, but you did it anyway? How did you feel after that happened?”

God will allow us to do something we know is wrong so that we can feel the consequences of our actions, but God still loves us and wants to help us make the right choices! Ask your kids, “Are there any areas in your life where you feel God wants to help you make the right choice?”

*If you don't have a Recalibrate journal, you can use any journal available to you to write down your responses.**TPCC does not necessarily endorse all For Further Reading/Learning sources. They are simply meant to be a helpful tool.

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