A Living Sacrifice

By Benjamin H. Liles

           Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. ~ Romans 12:1

           How do we thank and honor God? It's an easy thing to do with our lips, but can we do it on a daily basis whether it's been a good or bad day? I love the advice a friend of mine once gave me: "You can choose to wake up in either a good or bad mood. The choice is yours." The point being made is that we can choose how to honor God with our bodies, our lips especially.

           James says about the lips of mankind, "Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things" (James 3:4-5, NASB). How do we choose to respond to our daily struggles? Are we doing so to honor Him who bought us at a high price, His Son's death at the cross? Or do we live our lives the way we want to, allowing every evil and selfish desire motivating us? 

           What we think and say is how we really are; it's a reflection of our heart. But our language and our service, as a total, reflect who we belong to. I say I belong to God, my speech needs to prove it, therefore I also need to show a reasonable service as well of being thoughtful of others. That is how a Christian needs to live. But we're not perfect, and neither is a Christian; not this side of Heaven anyway. The best we're going to get to perfection on this side of Heaven is to allow God to help us change the way we think, the way we offer service to one another, how we talk, and most importantly how we walk.