Following God's examples

God is holy and we are called to lead a holy life. Naturally, we should follow God's examples. In Romans 15, Paul urged the Romans to lead a life like Jesus, our God.
Following the discussion of faith and charity in Romans 14, Paul appeals to those strong in faith to bear with those weaker in faith. When eating meat offered to idols does not trouble your conscience, it shows that your faith is strong. Yet, we should also consider the effects our behaviours have on the weaker brothers. Whose faith is stronger than Jesus'? Still, Jesus humbles himself to suffer for our shortcomings. Therefore, those stronger in faith should not seek personal honour and glory, but to be considerate and encouraging to the weaker brothers.
For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, "The reproaches of those who reproached thee fell on me." (Romans 15:3)

In Romans 15, Paul describes God in three different ways.
He is the God of steadfastness and encouragement (Romans 15:5). From this God, Paul prays that the Romans live in harmony so that they might glorify God in one accord.
He is also the God of hope (Romans 15:13). From this God, Paul prays that the Romans are filled with joy and peace so that they may abound in hope.
He is the God of peace (Romans 15:33). This verse sums up everything a Christian can ever wish for.
There are still many points to elaborate. However, I am too tired to continue. I have to accept my own limitations. Perhaps I will handle it better next time.

Today, I conducted an OLE session with a group of 16 S.5 students who had dropped RS. Adrian organized this. Dennis, Joseph, Agnes, Cecilia and me took charge of about 16 students in each group. Last year, John and Brenda took care of them, 44 each. Sometimes, Brenda invited me to run some prayer meetings with them, such as the Stations of the Cross in English. Therefore, I recognized a few of them. Today, I ran the session in English too. I found that these students were able to follow and immerse in the activity. It is my prejudice to insist on using English to teach RS and if possible to run religious functions in English as well. Of course, this OLE session cannot technically be labelled as EMI because the PowerPoint Adrian and Cecilia prepared was in Chinese and I allowed them to share in Chinese. However, I am sure that I was not doing monologue. The students were following my instructions. They did relaxation exercises with me, watched the PowerPoint, spent about 15 minutes writing a letter to themselves and stuck them on the blackboard. After the session when all the students were gone, I was tidying up the blackboard. One boy, Kelvin Chan returned to help me out. I was grateful to him and to God.

Dear Lord, though there are still many decisions the Principal made that I am not happy with, I complain less. Lord, grant me a more peaceful heart. Amen.

Appendix:
Οἱ ὀνειδισμοὶ τῶν ὀνειδιζόντ ων σε ἐπέπεσαν ἐπ' ἐμέ. 
The reproaches of those who reproached thee fell on me (Romans 15:3b, Psalm 68:10b LXX, 69:9 MT)

διὰ τοῦτο ἐξομολογήσομαί σο ι ἐν ἔθνεσιν καὶ τῷ ὀνόματί σου ψαλῶ. 
Therefore I will praise thee among the Gentiles, and sing to thy name (Romans 15:9b, Psalm 17:50 LXX, 18:49 MT)

εὐφράνθητε, ἔθνη, μετὰ τοῦ λ αοῦ αὐτοῦ.
Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people (Romans 15:10, Deuteronomy 32:43b)

αἰνεῖτε, πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, τὸν κ ύριον καὶ ἐπαινεσάτωσαν αὐτὸν πάντες οἱ λαοί. 
Praise the Lord, all Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him (Romans 15:11)
Αἰνεῖτε τὸν κύριον, πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, ἐπαινέσατε αὐτόν, πάντες οἱ λαοί (Psalm 116:1 LXX, 117:1 MT).

Ἔσται ἡ ῥίζα τοῦ Ἰεσσαί, καὶ ὁ ἀνιστάμενος ἄρχειν ἐθνῶν: ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦ σιν. 
The root of Jesse shall come, he who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles hope (Romans 15:12)
ἔσται ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἡ ῥίζα τοῦ Ιεσσαι καὶ ὁ ἀνιστάμ ενος ἄρχειν ἐθνῶν, ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσιν(Isaiah 11:10).

οἷς οὐκ ἀνηγγέλη περὶ αὐτοῦ ὄψονται, καὶ οἳ οὐκ ἀκηκόασιν συνήσουσιν. 
They shall see who have never been told of him, and they shall understand who have never heard of him (Romans 15:21, Isaiah 52:15b).