So What?

This is what my mentor asked me after I was assigned to write out some thoughts on Romans 8, which I am currently studying. I wrote a thoughtful, pretty solid paper on the first few verses, but at the end he asked me, "So what?" What does that mean? What is the application? Why should it matter to me?
He encouraged me to write it in a way that I was teaching it to other people. There's an idea with a few of the good teachers I have the privilege of learning from that nobody learns as much as the one doing the teaching.
I'm in a place in my life right now where I have to work very hard to keep from sliding into complacency. I have a chance to grow more now than I ever have, but there is an equal temptation to do the easier thing and stay where I am. There is a lot of pain in my circumstances, and a lot of temptation to deal with the pain by numbing myself with entertainment like we are quick to do in our culture. This is profitable for nothing.

This is a way not only to remind myself to prepare it like I would teach it when I study, but also to keep me accountable in the consistency of my study. It's easier and more organized to have a place online to organize my thoughts. Who knows? Maybe a thought or two might even be useful to someone.