Living Sacrifices

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:1-2.

My life is full of activity and schedules and commitments. Where am I going to find the time to be a living sacrifice? I’m not even sure what “presenting” and “living sacrifice” looks like in the practical sense. 

The reality is we have been offering our body as a sacrifice all the time. For example, when you leave the door open to temptation and you start spending a little too much time with a co-worker, then you are letting your mind and heart take you to places you should not go. When you say something in anger that causes a rift in a relationship, the tongue, is taking you places you don’t want to go.  You could talk about the ears, the eyes as well. While they might not be classified as evil, our hands and feet, eyes and ears, tongues and hearts can be sacrificed to people, places and things we should stay away from.

But, as a follower of Jesus, we have the opportunity to offer our body as a living sacrifice that will bring glory to Jesus. Then our hands and eyes and feet and tongue—and all our other body parts—will be living sacrifices to God instead of to this world. Presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice is not the ominous thing it can sound like when you first hear it. 

We should remind ourselves daily of the truth that we are not our own, we are servants of God, and every part of our body is His to control. Then, as we go through our day, that understanding is fresh in our mind, and it will affect our behavior during the day.

Here is your six-day challenge: Take the Word of God literally, and put every part of your body before the Lord as a sacrifice. If you’ll sincerely do that for the next six days, you’re going to discover that you’ll be learning how to present your body as a living sacrifice. And you’ll discover that God can and does use you in ways you never imagined.

Remember, we are sacrificing our bodies either to toxins or sin, or to the Lord. The choice is ours. 

Discussion Questions:

1. In your own words, what does it mean to be a living sacrifice?
2. What is the difference between being a living sacrifice and surrendering your life to Jesus Christ?
3. Are there areas of your life you have not sacrificed to God? What in your life would be most difficult to sacrifice?
4. Pray and ask God to help you live your life like a “living sacrifice”?