There comes a point in every believer’s journey where God asks you to stop measuring the size of your calling and start measuring the size of your heart. Romans 15 is that point. It is the moment where Paul looks at the church — fractured, diverse, passionate, struggling, hopeful — and says, “If you really want to show the world Jesus, here is how you live.”
Romans 15 is not written to the superstar Christians, to the individuals with giant platforms, or to the front-row saints who always seem to have the answers. This chapter is written to the entire body — the strong, the weak, the confident, the uncertain, the experienced, the new.
It is written to you.
And it is written to me.
Because Romans 15 is one of the clearest, most powerful, and most practical roadmaps for how the people of God become a people of hope, healing, unity, and encouragement. It is the heartbeat of a church that looks like Jesus. It is the blueprint for a community anchored in grace. It is the reminder that your life is not just about what you receive — but what you offer.
This chapter does not whisper. It speaks boldly. It stretches you. It challenges you. And more than anything, it invites you into a life where Christ is not only the source of your strength, but the reason you give that strength away.
So let’s walk through Romans 15 together — slowly, deeply, honestly — and discover what it means to build one another up in a world determined to tear itself apart.
Paul begins the chapter with a powerful declaration:
“We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.”
In other words, if God has given you strength — emotional strength, spiritual strength, financial strength, relational strength, mental strength — that strength is not only for you.
It is entrusted to you.
Strength in the kingdom of God is never a trophy; it is always a tool.
It is not meant for self-display; it is meant for self-giving.
It is not meant for superiority; it is meant for support.
This upside-down kingdom principle turns the entire world’s definition of strength on its head. In the world, the strong rise above, step over, and excel beyond. In the kingdom, the strong kneel down, lift up, and carry those who are struggling.
Paul is clear:
If you are strong in faith — help the one who is doubting.
If you are strong in hope — lift the one who is discouraged.
If you are strong in conviction — walk patiently with the one who doesn’t fully understand yet.