Daily Devotional Thursday 19th January 2023

by William Moody

Romans 12

A Living Sacrifice

12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers,1 by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.2 Do not be conformed to this world,3 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.4

Gifts of Grace

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members,5 and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads,6 with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Marks of the True Christian

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,7 serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.8 Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it9 to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Footnotes

[1] 12:1 Or brothers and sisters
[2] 12:1 Or your rational service
[3] 12:2 Greek age
[4] 12:2 Or what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God
[5] 12:4 Greek parts; also verse 5
[6] 12:8 Or gives aid
[7] 12:11 Or fervent in the Spirit
[8] 12:16 Or give yourselves to humble tasks
[9] 12:19 Greek give place

(ESV)

After eleven chapters of teaching about the Gospel and God’s plans, Paul now starts to give practical instructions as to how Christians should live. The incentive for obeying these commands is all that has just been taught on the mercy of God (v1).

The Christian is to offer up his or her life to the Lord as a sacrifice of service We worship God daily by giving ourselves to do God’s will. Someone has said that the problem with a living sacrifice, is that it keeps wanting to crawl off the altar. We must give ourselves to the Lord with a determination not to think, talk or act as the world does (v2). We must allow our minds to be changed by the Spirit through the scriptures. This will lead to working for the Lord in the church’s life (v3).

We are to watch against pride realising that anything we can do including believing, is all down to God’s gift to us. Some are given different measures of gifts from others and we are all given different types of gifts so as to serve the body of Christ (v4-5). All we have has come from God not for us to indulge ourselves but rather to serve others no matter what our gift may be (v6-8). Are you daily giving yourself as a living sacrifice, serving the needs of others?

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®),
copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.