Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God

The apostle Paul calls those who have received mercy to offer their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. A living sacrifice means giving without holding anything back, yielding the right to decide to God, and laying no claim to one’s own rights.

In the offerings of Cain and Abel, God looked not at the gift but at the spirit of their everyday lives. Every one of us is born with an evil nature, yet as we live in patience, forgiveness and sharing, that nature is little by little covered over. Suffering is the process that softens and melts it, so that it can hold the likeness of God.

The church is one body. Its members have received different gifts, but they stand together in partnership, not in rank. Gifts, time and service all belong to God, so they must not be used to put oneself on show; when God’s people, each in their own place, put the work of God before the affairs of the world, the church, the family and the nation grow healthy.