Written by Deanna Brooks, Volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas
Romans 12:1,2 ESV: 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 NLT: And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Three words stand out in this scripture:
1. The word “sacrifice” means giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important. Even though the Israelites offered a lamb or another animal as a sacrifice, it was an outward sign that did not always reflect a heart for God.
Sacrifices were common to the first-century world. They had been part of religious practices from the time of Cain and Abel.
2. “Conformed” means to be in agreement with or molded into. As disciples of Jesus, we are not to follow the ways of the world because we have a higher calling— to become like Jesus.
3. “Transformed” is a change in a person’s nature, the way they think and the way they live.
A true disciple of the LORD offers their whole being as a living sacrifice to Him— totally living their life for Jesus, instead of following the ways of the world.
When we give our lives completely to God, we sacrifice our wants and desires for His will, allowing Him to transform us into the image of Jesus.
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. (2Co 3:18)
As disciples of Jesus, we do not follow the culture of this world, but we go to God’s Word and let His teachings mold our thinking into His will.
Paul tells us in Colossians 2:6: “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.”
Just as the caterpillar sheds its safe cocoon and bursts into a beautiful butterfly— totally different from the little creature that spun the cocoon— we, too, shed the old life of going along with what the world does and seek to do the will of Jesus.
Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1:4: “He has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”
Long ago, David wrote in Psalm 119:15,16: “I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.” In verse 97 of that same chapter, we read: “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.”
Then in verse 105, David tells us how God’s Word guides us: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”
When feasting on the message God has given us becomes more important than spending time in the things the world offers, we will find we are transformed into the likeness of our Redeemer and LORD.
As we think about what is important to us, are we giving our lives completely to God to be holy and acceptable to Him?
