Romans 13:13

Romans 13:13
"Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, and not in strife and envy."

"Let us walk properly, as in the day...
During the day, when it's light outside, I'm less apt to do wasteful things. On especially sunny days, the pleasant weather inspires me to do my household chores with an extra spring in my step. That's not to say that I never do anything wasteful during the day. Actually, I used to be a professional time waster - mindlessly browsing the internet, watching Netflix, and taking naps. Although pregnancy can take a lot out of you, I am pretty sure there were some days when I did have energy to more than just sit..but I sat anyway. This verse isn't really about that though. Here, Paul encourages the Romans (and me!) to live their lives responsibly - naturally and supernaturally - as if it were a beautifully inspiring spring day, every day.

...not in revelry and drunkenness...
Revelry = boisterous festivity
Drunkenness =marked by intoxication

There's a time and a place for merry making and a good glass of wine...but that's not what Paul is talking about. I think revelry for me means not living in obnoxious inside jokes or laughing to loud (and sometimes fakely) about things that really don't matter. In my past, especially one summer when I was living in total rebellion to the Lord, my friends and I were like this when we were sober, and then exorbitant amounts of alcohol only encouraged us to be more obnoxious.Want to know another thing? We were usually doing this at night ;-)
Though I have said goodbye to that lifestyle, I think it's possible too to walk in spiritual revelry and (irresponsible) drunkenness. Sometimes (and I did this a lot when I was on the opposite side of rebellion - trying to be super holy and to prove to everyone that I was indeed holy and spiritual ) God does something cool, like give us a word of knowledge or something, and then we worship that word and make it out to be this incredibly huge spiritual experience where the audible voice of God shook the room and lightning bolts came out of our ears...when really it was His still, small voice that whispered to us. I guess what I'm trying to say is spiritual revelry and drunkenness looks a lot like an obnoxious spiritual bragging contest. Its a serious mark of immaturity.
Is Paul talking about spiritual immaturity? Maybe. Based on the context of the passage he's probably really talking about actual obnoxiousness and drinking irresponsibly.

...not in lewdness and lust...
The word translated "lewd," "lewdness" in the King James Version occurs only twice in the New Testament, and in each instance is more correctly translated in the Revised Version (British and American) by another word: vile. Other Greek translations for this word include "bad," "evil," "grievous," "harmful," "malicious," "wicked." I think by "lewdness" Paul is talking about coarse, mean spirited joking - which reminds me too of my friends and I from our rebellious summer. Isn't it strange that the people I called "friend" were probably the most verbally ruthless towards me?
So what does avoiding malicious and lustful behavior mean to me? Well...in the context of the last paragraph, it means spending my time and most importantly my words building others up instead of tearing them down, not being taken in by sexual temptation or just longing for things that aren't healthy for me or my relationships with God and my family.

...and not in strife and envy."
strife=vigorous or bitter conflict, discord, antagonism
envy=a feeling of discontent or covetousness towards others for their possessions, successes, or advantages

I think this is actually the hardest segment listed. It is so easy to give yourself to drama, no matter what kind of social situation you find yourself in. Sometimes, I think it's a human tendency to want to stir up trouble just to have something to talk about..and a lot of times, we choose to center our strife around the object of our envy.  I remember when there was a girl who was skinnier and more athletically inclined than me who I saw talking to my boyfriend at the time. It was a completely innocent conversation - I was just seething with so much envy  that I punished my then boyfriend via the silent treatment and a completely unnecessary argument later, otherwise known as strife.

Even in the arena of a social life full of believers, we can allow our envy of others' spiritual gifts bring strife to our relationships with them and even with God. I've caught myself before being so mad that another person could sing so much better than me or had lots of prophetic dreams or cook meals better that I would distance myself from them and get mad at God for not "gifting me better!" Isn't that ridiculous? Envy and strife are so destructive. In this case, they separated me from people I should have been pursuing, so I could learn to how be a better singer, cook, and listener!

Jesus, help me to walk in the light as You are in the light. Remind me when I am given to foolish carousing and dark mindsets. Teach me what it is to walk properly.