Scripture
A Living Sacrifice to God
1And so, dear brothers and sisters,[1] 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.[2] 2Don’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.
3Because of the privilege and authority[3] God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.[4] 4Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
6In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.
9Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10Love each other with genuine affection,[5] and take delight in honoring each other. 11Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.[6] 12Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. 13When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.
14Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!
17Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
19Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,
“I will take revenge;
I will pay them back,”[7]
says the Lord.
20Instead,
“If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap
burning coals of shame on their heads.”[8]
21Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.
Translation notes (8)
- 12:1a Greek brothers.
- 12:1b Or This is your spiritual worship; or This is your reasonable service.
- 12:3a Or Because of the grace; compare 1:5.
- 12:3b Or by the faith God has given you; or by the standard of our God-given faith.
- 12:10 Greek with brotherly love.
- 12:11 Or but serve the Lord with a zealous spirit; or but let the Spirit excite you as you serve the Lord.
- 12:19 Deut 32:35.
- 12:20 Prov 25:21-22.
Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good
It has been said, “You are as close to God as you want to be.” It is true. We have been talking about excellence in our relationship with God and giving Him 100% all week. The truth is when it comes to excellence in our relationship with God, proximity matters. The closer we are to God, the closer we will grow in our relationships with Him, and the more He will change our hearts and help us to live excellently. So we have to take our faith seriously.
Romans 12 gives us a picture of what it looks like to take our faith seriously and live with excellence. In this chapter, the apostle Paul wrote, “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good” (verse 9). It’s easy to talk about our love for God and others, but proving those words by our actions is not always as easy. It is, however, what matters.
When we walk closely with God and take our faith seriously, we live with excellence. Living faithfully means living out what we say we believe and loving people the way Christ loves them. This is what it means to present our very best to God.
Today when you are in line at the grocery store, why not let someone go first? Maybe instead of not letting that person merge in front of you, you can make room for them to merge. Perhaps you can set aside your own bias to show and express love to others.
Let’s be genuine people. Let’s live our lives in such a way that our actions prove our faith in Christ and encourage others in their faith in Christ as well.
Moving Toward Action
Evaluate your life for a moment. Are you taking your faith in Christ seriously? Do your actions show the seriousness of your faith? Are there any changes or shifts you need to make to make your faith a priority so that you can live excellently? What are they? Commit today to make those changes and give God your best.
Going Deeper
Romans 12:1-21 (NLT)
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