Romans 12:1

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship ~ Romans 12:1


How many of us really offer our bodies as a living sacrifice? It is a question that I ponder, for it has multi answers and multi problems. The first thought that comes to my mind is that it is difficult because we have to put our “old man” to death. Paul speaks extensively about this act, for it is to put away sin and our slavery to sin. Peter too talked about this as he wrote that we are to put aside malice, deceit, envy, slander, and deceit. He also said to not conform to our former lusts. Even John, the beloved disciple, took part in this conversation telling us that if we walk in the darkness, we lie and don’t practice the truth, and that we can do this even though our words say we walk with the Lord Jesus (Romans 6:6; 1 Peter 1:14;1 John 1:6, 7). Therefore, we cannot really offer our bodies as a living sacrifice unless we have first taken on the power of the Holy Spirit by truly giving our lives into God’s hands. This is the difficult part, for it means that we give over every aspect of our life. We cannot keep for ourselves a part of our life, or our heart. I have heard the analogy that our heart has many chambers, many doorways. What old prejudices lie dormant behind those closed and locked doors that we have not opened up for our Lord? What part of our past learning, our past hurts, our past misconceptions are we hanging on to that block our really being people who offer our every aspect to Jesus as a sacrifice? I once ministered to a woman who thought her father had hated her because she had seizures as a child. She misunderstood his fear of not knowing what to do to help her for hatred. Jesus helped her see the difference, but she had to open that door for him to go inside and show her the truth. Our “old Man” will only be put to complete death when we allow Jesus all the way in. there can be “No Entry” signs in our heart. If there are and if we hold on to them, the “old Man” will always have some power over us, and our sacrifice will only be partial. Give your all to Jesus and he will make you completely new. After all, that was what a sacrifice was meant for, to turn away from and to turn toward the new.

Pastor Julia 

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