December 18
Romans 15:7-13
7 Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. 8 Now I say that Jesus Christ has become a servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers, 9 and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written:
“For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles,
And sing to Your name.”
10 And again he says:
“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!”
11 And again:
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles!
Laud Him, all you peoples!”
12 And again, Isaiah says:
“There shall be a root of Jesse;
And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles,
In Him the Gentiles shall hope.”
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We Rejoice
by Juliana Smith
As a former athlete and current administrator, I am very familiar with the concept of praise. We hype ourselves up when we achieve a new goal. We cheer on our teammates when they make a play. We even cheer on the officials when they make a call in our team’s favor. However, there’s one group we definitely do not cheer for: the opposing team.
In Romans 15, Paul is directing believers—both Jews and Gentiles—to praise the Lord together. These two groups had a history of being on opposite sides—those who were God’s chosen by their birthright and those who were not. But at this time in history, the Church was a collective group of individuals who had accepted the Gospel—Christians of both Jewish and non-Jewish descent.
Paul tells the collective Church to praise, to rejoice, and again to praise. When something is spoken three times in the Word, it’s best we pay attention. Paul is telling us that, no matter our origin, as believers in Christ, we should unite in rejoicing in the Lord. He is challenging us to center our hope, faith, and actions on Christ while not dismissing the diversity of the Church.
There are times in our lives when we do not feel like rejoicing, or when it is extremely difficult to do so. As sinful beings, we are often deceived by our flesh in ways that convince us our circumstances mean more than our hope in Christ. We can sometimes be so downtrodden by the insurmountable challenges in front of us that we don’t have a praise to give, and doing so in community can feel especially hard. But in verse 13, Paul prays, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope.” Paul is acknowledging and enlightening the Church in Rome that we cannot abound in hope without the assistance and power of the Holy Spirit.
Much like on a team, athletes are motivated by their teammates’ praises and the encouraging words of coaches—affirmation of the work we’ve put in. As Christians, we can rely on our internal and eternal teammate, the Holy Spirit, who continues to equip, encourage, and remind us of where our hope comes from and why we should never lose sight of it. Early in his letter to the Romans, Paul shares his desire to visit Rome: “that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith of both you and me” (Romans 1:12). In addition to the Holy Spirit, we are encouraged by one another’s faith.
As we continue through this Advent season, I’m reminded to rejoice and to praise—and to do so by the power of the Holy Spirit in partnership with fellow believers. We rejoice because, “…all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). We rejoice because, “weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). We rejoice because God gifted us with the Holy Spirit as “the guarantee of our inheritance” (Ephesians 1:14). And ultimately, we rejoice because Jesus is Lord.
About the Author
Juliana Smith
Juliana Smith serves Baylor University as an Executive Senior Associate Athletic Director for Mission Impact and Enrichment within Baylor Athletics, joining the university in 2023. In her role, Juliana seeks to cultivate and develop opportunities promoting Spiritual Growth, the founding pillar of the Baylor Athletics vision of Preparing Champions for Life. She also provides oversight of Sports Ministry and serves as the Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designee (ADID) and liaison to NCAA and Big 12 Conference diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and initiatives.
Before coming to Baylor, she spent the previous five years at Colgate University, most recently as Deputy Athletics Director, Senior Woman Administrator, and the Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designee, where she provided strategic leadership and functional oversight of the Division of Physical Education, Recreation, and Athletics. She also served as the sport administrator for football, women’s basketball, and women's lacrosse. Smith was an All-America indoor track and field student-athlete at the University of Mississippi. She was the 2009 SEC indoor champion in the weight throw and placed fifth in that event at the 2011 NCAA Indoors to claim her All-America certificate. She was also the 2010 Ole Miss nominee for NCAA Woman of the Year.