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.
A Living Sacrifice to God
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.
If we take our faith seriously, our lives will look different from the rest of the world. Our actions prove just how seriously we take our faith. James explained in James 1 that "pure and genuine religion" is "refusing to let the world corrupt you" (verse 27). In other words, if we take our faith and the words in Scripture seriously, we must refuse to let the world and things of this world corrupt. Instead, we look to the things of heaven instead of this world. This is what it looks like to refuse to let the world corrupt us.
The apostle Paul helps us understand how to keep the world from corrupting us. He wrote in Romans 12, "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" (verse 2). Living differently, according to Paul, begins by thinking differently. "Changing the way [we] think" causes us to live differently. We think about the things we focus on, so changing the way, we think means changing our focus. We must focus on God and the things of Him. We do this by praying, reading Scripture, attending church, listening to songs that point us to God, and more. As we do these things, God protects our minds. He keeps us from being corrupted by the world.
If we want to be doers of the word and have genuine faith, we must live differently. This begins with the way we think. Let's set our hearts, minds, and affection on Him and remain uncorrupted from this world filled with sin and death.
Moving toward action
One of the ways that we protect our minds is by memorizing Scripture. Take a look at our monthly memory verse today and start memorizing it. As you memorize this verse, you are setting your heart and mind on Scripture and the things of Christ.
Going Deeper
Romans 12:1-21
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