
Gave Up
This message from Romans Chapter 1 explores the Apostle Paul’s effort to convey the righteousness of God, a central theme of the book. Paul emphasizes humanity’s fallibility, demonstrating how our failure to honor God reflects a diminished understanding of His value. The passage highlights how people suppress the truth of God, leading to spiritual and moral decay. Paul argues that through creation itself, God’s invisible attributes—His eternal power and divine nature—are evident, leaving humanity without excuse for denying Him.
The message stresses that acknowledging God involves more than verbal thanks; it requires giving Him what He is due, both in recognition and worship. Using an analogy, the speaker explains how failing to give proper honor diminishes God’s value and results in ungratefulness. As people devalue God, their hearts become darkened, leading to futile thinking and misplaced priorities.
Paul describes the consequences of rejecting God’s truth. Humanity replaces the glory of God with idols and self-worship, which blinds people to His authority. The message warns against prioritizing personal desires over God’s will, equating this behavior to spiritual rebellion. The story of a man rejecting help during a storm illustrates how arrogance and self-centeredness prevent us from accepting God’s provisions.
The sermon highlights that God’s judgment allows individuals to pursue their sinful desires to their own detriment, a sobering reality described as God “giving them over” to their choices. This leads to moral corruption and harmful consequences, both physical and spiritual. The speaker uses examples like sexual immorality and idolatry to show how deviating from God’s natural design results in destructive outcomes.
Paul also warns against adopting a “reprobate mind,” where individuals reject what is good and normalize sin. The progression of sin affects not only actions but also thought patterns, leading to spiritual insanity. The sermon points out the normalization of once-scandalous behaviors, demonstrating how societal standards shift when God’s truth is ignored.
The message concludes by urging self-examination and repentance. Listeners are called to recognize God’s righteous judgment, identify idolatry in their lives, and turn back to Him. True repentance involves not just acknowledging wrongdoing but actively changing direction to align with God’s will. Progress may be gradual, but every step toward righteousness matters.