A Living Sacrifice, Romans 12:1-8, May 1, 2020

It's a beautiful day. A day to celebrate the goodness of God and all of the beautiful creation we get to experience day in and day out.

Our Scripture today gives us both instruction and invitation. First off we are to offer our whole being to God as a sacrifice unto Him. As a living sacrifice, dedicated to God, it becomes our spiritual act of worship. Because we belong to the Lord, in turn, we are not to conform ourselves to the world's ways. This comes by renewing our minds daily so that we might be able to more clearly understand God's will and God's ways in our lives. Secondly, there in so room in the life of the believer for selfish pride. We need to take careful observance of ourselves to be certain that our pride does not cause us to think we are better than someone else. Paul calls it having "sober judgment."

The reason for the above is so that we can understand that we are part of the whole. Not everyone in the body of Christ as the same giftings. The joy of this is that because we are all different in our own ways, the grace of God is given to us to walk out the gifts/talents that we each have. Paul give a short listing and perhaps one of them fits you? Do you like to serve others? Do you like to teach? Are you an encourager of others? Are you generous, hospitable, merciful? If do, do these things with cheerfulness!

Serving others, loving others, encouraging others all flows from our own personal dedication to the God whose grace enables us to walk in love toward one another.

It is always good to examine ourselves and to ask ourselves: Am I fully dedicated to the Lord? Am I using the gifts He has given to me to serve others? How you answer these questions will help determine the joy you will have in your walk with Christ.