‘And so, dear brothers and sisters, 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. 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. ‘ Romans 12:1-2
“And so…” in other versions, you would see “Therefore…” which means something comes before this statement. And in this case it is:
‘For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.’ Romans 11:36
The only reason we exist is for God’s glory. He is good. He has given us the freedom of choice. And our lives will change when He gives us the faith to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
We don’t become robots who blindly follow the rules before us. With the help of the Spirit, He will work in our hearts towards the goal, and that goal is for us to be made in the image of Jesus.
‘And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. ‘ Philippians 1:6
Let’s look at what Paul pleads for us to do:
“Give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you.”
What has He done for us?
He gave His one and only Son as a sacrifice for our sins.
‘ “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. ‘ John 3:16
‘But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. ‘ Hebrews 10:12
He calls us to sacrifice our lives to grow His Kingdom.
“Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable.“
What kind of sacrifice does He find acceptable? He wants us to sacrifice any part of our lives that take our affection away from Him. When we allow anything in this world to get between Him and others, we separate ourselves from God.
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world“
What is the “behavior and customs” of this world?
Just look online, on the news, or on TV. Everything you see is all about the person you see. We have become a society of self-absorbed people. We care more about ourselves than those around us.
This world’s system silences us if we speak out against it. It is becoming more evident daily that with every news story, we are headed away from what God wants.
We have become a world of critics from every angle. We are complaining about things that we have no control over instead of walking out our front door and looking for a neighbor we can help, which is fully in our control.
We have become a society fixated on our government as if they can do anything to make our lot in life better. The only thing that can make our lives better in any way is submitting our lives to God’s glory.
“but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think“
Notice the word “let” in this statement. This is on us; if we become set in our way of thinking, we don’t leave room for the Lord to change how we think.
‘We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. ‘ 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
This starts with us. When we start to listen to the conversations in our minds, we will soon find that our private conversations do not please God. For me personally, I find myself arguing with people in my mind. This may sound funny, but it’s true. And most of the time, these conversations only take place in my mind.
When I recognize this happening, I bring this before the Lord and ask Him to replace those with thoughts that edify the other person. I’ve noticed that these conversations do not occur as often as they used to. Praise the Lord!!
The other way to transform our thoughts is to spend time in God’s Word daily. As we make these words a regular part of our thinking, our lives will change. Our reactions will start to change. The way we look at others will begin to change.
“Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.“
The promise is if we let God transform us into a new person by changing our thoughts, we will learn God’s Will for us.
What a promise!
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word and promise.
I pray that Your Word continues transforming my life, bringing me closer to knowing Your Son, Jesus.
I pray that You help me to keep my testimony in front of those around me. When the pressure comes, I pray that You provide me the strength and courage to live for Your glory.
I am thankful for what You have done for us, and I pray for the hearts of those who do not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior to come to know Your saving grace.
In the loving name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen!! 🙏❤️
