July 13

Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, women who have worked hard in the Lord. Greet my beloved Persis, who has worked very hard in the Lord. — Rom 16:12 BSB

This is one of those chapters that many Bible readers think they can skip over without missing anything.

It’s just a list of names—people we don’t know. But there aren’t any chapters we can afford to skip. In Romans 16, there’s much more than a list of names. Each name comes with a mini biography.

It’s amazing how much we’ll know about these Roman Christians when we meet them in heaven if we take the time to learn what’s said about them here.

Take Persis, for example. “Greet Persis, the beloved, who worked hard in the Lord.” She was “beloved”—a woman with such a sweet spirit that, like John, she was called “beloved.” She had “worked hard”—past tense, meaning she had now been set aside, perhaps due to illness or old age. She had worked “much”—she was tireless and selfless in her service. And all her work had been “in the Lord”—her faithful labor was done for Christ.