A study... and a challenge.

My Bible reading comes from Roman's 12. Go get your Bible. I'll wait...

And I didn't pick just one topic to write on, because this chapter is too amazing to say one thing. And this is MY blog. So there.

Okay, Roman's 12:1 "...by the mercies of God, present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable until God, which is your reasonable service." You are a child of God, and therefore a sacrifice. The person you were before might as well have died and been buried. It is "our reasonable service." It's our job. It's not God asking too much of us. It's required. And it's impossible.

For us, that is. God, in His mercy, will help us to accomplish it. We have to decide in our hearts and minds that we WANT to follow him. Be willing and able.

Verse 2 tells us to stand fast in this world. Don't let it change and conform you. Let God wash your mind clear of the world's snares continually. It's only this way that you can demonstrate to the world that a) you are God's personal ambassador to them and b) that they should be like you. If you let the world sway you in any way, even little things like things you say, things you wear, music you listen to... it will destroy your entire testimony. You're different. They're watching you. They're waiting breathlessly for you to fall.

Don't let the world win. You have brothers and sisters in Christ who will gladly get on their knees and pray for you if you start to slip. If pride gets in your way, tell him to leave, because it's just your old pal, Satan. Humble yourself in the sight of the LORD and He will lift you up.

Verses 3-8. These boil down to this: don't be proud and snobbish of your spiritual gift. We're all different in this body of Christ. You're a hand. The person next to you is a foot. The one beside him is the nose. Imagine life without a nose. It would kind of stink. Imagine if we were all prophets and none were teachers. No one would learn from the prophets. Or if all of us were teachers and no one showed mercy. There's be a total lack of 4.0s. Give deference to the gifts of others.



Your challenge from my rambling on verse 2: Practice humbling yourself and asking for prayer. Call, text, send an email to, or meet with your friends weekly to ask if you can pray for them and if they can pray for you. If there's nothing in your life needing urgent prayer, ask for prayers of spiritual strength, faith, or unwavering trust in the LORD. Or anything. Just ask and pray diligently.