Why is thankfulness important?

Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me…The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to the one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!

Psalm 50:14-15, 23Psalm 50:14-15, 23
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
14 I am God Most High! The only sacrifice I want is for you to be thankful and to keep your word. ¹⁵ Pray to me in time of trouble. I will rescue you, and you will honor me. ²³ The sacrifice that honors me is a thankful heart. Obey me, i Obey me: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. and I, your God, will show my power to save.

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Man’s chief end is to glorify God (Henry, Piper). Ultimately the greatest reason one should seek to develop a thankful heart is that this is what brings the Lord glory. This is our ultimate goal and purpose in life. Rather than requiring sacrifice, the Lord longs for us to respond in praise and thanksgiving. This is what brings Him greatest glory as His creation recognizes His goodness, His blessing, Himself, and responds in joyful thanks. A heart that responds with thanksgiving in all circumstances is a heart that trusts, a heart that knows God and rests in this knowledge.

One cannot truly be thankful without seriously considering the situation and the cost (or benefit) incurred. And while it is a natural response to be thankful for blessing, it is a supernatural response for one to praise the Lord in the midst of pain; to be thankful for the pain. And yet, how much more is the Lord glorified when his children thank Him in the midst of difficulty and strife, when they respond in thanksgiving through the power of the Holy Spirit and view their circumstances as light and momentary troubles that soon pass away in light of eternity with Him?

A thankful heart is not one that naturally develops, but one the Lord must grow in each of us through time and experience, blessing and pain, making the repeated choice to receive the cup given to us and to respond obediently, and yes, thankfully, because you trust that all is done for His glory and your good, and in the end you see Him that much more clearly.

What does a thankful heart look like?

Dave, at 18, looked like a cross between Genghis Khan and Buddha. He was magnificently large, over 300 pounds on a 6 ft. frame…But he was gentle and deeply kind. He loved children, and they loved him…The gentleness of the Good Shepherd was in him…He had been with some of the youth on an afternoon trip to a local island. Big-D wanted to see the view from atop the cliff above the shore…Near the top, a large boulder, embedded in the ground, perched at the edge of the cliff. Dave sat on the boulder and everything gave way. He dropped 90 feet to his death…Carol and I met half an hour later in the parking lot of the townhouse complex were Dave’s parents lived. We were the ones to break the news. We looked at each other, too raw to speak. We prayed. But honestly, I hardly believed in God right then. I was angry with Him, if He was there at all…Dave’s mom, Justine, opened the door and she lit up. “Look who’s here to see us” she called to John, and he came over to the door grinning. But they could tell, looking at the two of us, something was wrong, terribly wrong, and they stopped smiling…”there’s been an accident. David’s dead.” And then I saw a miracle. Justine began to worship. The first words out of her mouth were “O God, You chose him, You chose my David. O Lord, thank You that You chose him, and he is with You right now, seeing You face-to-face. He’s dancing in your throne room right now. Lord, I love him. I love you. I miss my son, Lord. I need Your strength. But thank you that You chose him.  (The Holy Wild)

So what does a thankful heart look like? One who is thankful moves from a disposition that is humble and submitted to the Lord. There is a recognition that this life is not your own. There is a willing acceptance of the Lord’s will in your life, both the difficult and the good. There is a quiet belief that the Lord consistently moves ultimately out of goodness and love for those who are His.

Furthermore, one who is thankful lacks a sense of entitlement. In Luke 17:12-18Luke 17:12-18
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
12 As he was going into a village, ten men with leprosy w leprosy: See the note at . came toward him. They stood at a distance ¹³ and shouted, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” ¹⁴ Jesus looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” x show yourselves to the priests: See the note at . On their way they were healed. ¹⁵ When one of them discovered that he was healed, he came back, shouting praises to God. ¹⁶ He bowed down at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. The man was from the country of Samaria. ¹⁷ Jesus asked, “Weren't ten men healed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Why was this foreigner the only one who came back to thank God?”

WP-Bible plugin Christ heals ten lepers, yet only one (a Samaritan) returned to Him praising God. Did Christ owe it to them to bring healing? A thankful heart recognizes blessing and responds. One who is thankful consistently lives with a sense of their own need for the Lord and His consistent grace in their life. A thankful heart lives out of deep understanding that the Lord always moves for His glory and your good.

How do we develop a thankful heart?

Paul writes to the Ephesians a story of immense depravity, a heroic rescue, and a restored life (see Ephesians 2:1-10Ephesians 2:1-10
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
From Death to Life ^{2 1} . In the past you were dead because you sinned and fought against God. ² You followed the ways of this world and obeyed the devil. He rules the world, and his spirit has power over everyone who doesn't obey God. ³ Once we were also ruled by the selfish desires of our bodies and minds. We had made God angry, and we were going to be punished like everyone else. ⁴-⁵ But God was merciful! We were dead because of our sins, but God loved us so much that he made us alive with Christ, and God's wonderful kindness is what saves you. ⁶ God raised us from death to life with Christ Jesus, and he has given us a place beside Christ in heaven. ⁷ God did this so that in the future world he could show how truly good and kind he is to us because of what Christ Jesus has done. ⁸ You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. e treats us much better than we deserve: The Greek word charis, traditionally rendered “grace,” is translated here and other places in the CEV to express the overwhelming kindness of God. This is God's gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own. ⁹ It isn't something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about. ¹⁰ God planned for us to do good things and to live as he has always wanted us to live. That's why he sent Christ to make us what we are.

WP-Bible plugin). We often use these verses to explain salvation to someone who does not know the Lord. However, Paul wrote to believers. Why would he feel a great need to remind us of our own story of salvation? Luke 7:36-50Luke 7:36-50
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Simon the Pharisee ³⁶ A Pharisee invited Jesus to have dinner with him. So Jesus went to the Pharisee's home and got ready to eat. r got ready to eat: On special occasions the Jewish people often followed the Greek and Roman custom of lying down on their left side and leaning on their left elbow, while eating with their right hand. This is how the woman could come up behind Jesus and wash his feet . ³⁷ ; ; . When a sinful woman in that town found out that Jesus was there, she bought an expensive bottle of perfume. ³⁸ Then she came and stood behind Jesus. She cried and started washing his feet with her tears and drying them with her hair. The woman kissed his feet and poured the perfume on them. ³⁹ The Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw this and said to himself, “If this man really were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him! He would know that she is a sinner.” ⁴⁰ Jesus said to the Pharisee, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” “Teacher, what is it?” Simon replied. ⁴¹ Jesus told him, “Two people were in debt to a moneylender. One of them owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other owed him fifty. ⁴² Since neither of them could pay him back, the moneylender said that they didn't have to pay him anything. Which one of them will like him more?” ⁴³ Simon answered, “I suppose it would be the one who had owed more and didn't have to pay it back.” “You are right,” Jesus said. ⁴⁴ He turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Have you noticed this woman? When I came into your home, you didn't give me any water so I could wash my feet. But she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You didn't greet me with a kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You didn't even pour olive oil on my head, s washed my feet ... greet me with a kiss ... pour olive oil on my head: Guests in a home were usually offered water so they could wash their feet, because most people either went barefoot or wore sandals and would come in the house with very dusty feet. Guests were also greeted with a kiss on the cheek, and special ones often had sweet-smelling olive oil poured on their head. but she has poured expensive perfume on my feet. ⁴⁷ So I tell you that all her sins are forgiven, and that is why she has shown great love. But anyone who has been forgiven for only a little will show only a little love.” ⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” ⁴⁹ Some other guests started saying to one another, “Who is this who dares to forgive sins?” ⁵⁰ But Jesus told the woman, “Because of your faith, you are now saved. t saved: Or “healed.” The Greek word may have either meaning. May God give you peace!”

WP-Bible plugin describes an encounter between Christ, a Pharisee, and a prostitute. The Pharisee has invited Christ into his home, yet fails to treat him as an important guest. The woman, however, comes before Christ broken and humbled, honoring Him with her repentance and recognition of her desperate need of Him.

Christ responds “…her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little” (v. 47). It is not that the Pharisee had little to be forgiven—we are all far worse than we could ever realize. It is that he realized his need for Christ so little. When you see how great your sin is, you then see the depth of forgiveness and mercy shown you. A heart which truly grasps this reality cannot help but respond in love toward the Lord, with great thankfulness.

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Spend time in Ephesians 2:1-10Ephesians 2:1-10
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
From Death to Life ^{2 1} . In the past you were dead because you sinned and fought against God. ² You followed the ways of this world and obeyed the devil. He rules the world, and his spirit has power over everyone who doesn't obey God. ³ Once we were also ruled by the selfish desires of our bodies and minds. We had made God angry, and we were going to be punished like everyone else. ⁴-⁵ But God was merciful! We were dead because of our sins, but God loved us so much that he made us alive with Christ, and God's wonderful kindness is what saves you. ⁶ God raised us from death to life with Christ Jesus, and he has given us a place beside Christ in heaven. ⁷ God did this so that in the future world he could show how truly good and kind he is to us because of what Christ Jesus has done. ⁸ You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. e treats us much better than we deserve: The Greek word charis, traditionally rendered “grace,” is translated here and other places in the CEV to express the overwhelming kindness of God. This is God's gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own. ⁹ It isn't something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about. ¹⁰ God planned for us to do good things and to live as he has always wanted us to live. That's why he sent Christ to make us what we are.

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• How does Paul describe your life before Christ? (v.1-3) What is the tone of these verses?
• Where does the tone shift (with what phrase)?
• How is God depicted? Christ?
• What is your natural response to this truth?
• What do you fear most? If the Lord allowed this to occur in your life, if He willed it for your life, could you respond thankfully, trusting that all He does is for His glory and your good?

prayer

Father, thank you for the greatness of your love for us! Thank you for being our hero, for rescuing us from our own depravity, our deep lost-ness, even while we were enemies of You. Your love is great. May we never forget this. Open our eyes to our need for you. Open our eyes to your work in our lives moment by moment. May we never take this for granted. Grow in us thankful hearts that honor and glorify you alone.

So be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you.

Ephesians 5:15-18Ephesians 5:15-18
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
15 Act like people with good sense and not like fools. ¹⁶ . These are evil times, so make every minute count. ¹⁷ Don't be stupid. Instead, find out what the Lord wants you to do. ¹⁸ Don't destroy yourself by getting drunk, but let the Spirit fill your life.

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There are many Christians who are content to simply get excited about God on the weekend, but the rest of the week act as if Christ did not even exist. They live a life of spiritual detachment, believing all the right things but lacking any spiritual will-power to obey. This is not the way God intended it!

God intended us to live in the power of his spirit continually. This passage from Ephesians tells us to be continually filled by the spirit. It is a command. “Instead, let the Holy Spirit fill and control you…” may not make that clear, but in the Greek the word-forms we find are powerful and clear. More literally, we are commanded, “Do not keep on getting drunk with wine…instead, keep on being filled by the spirit.”

The phrases “be drunk” and “be filled” are both present tense commands in the Greek. Now, present tense in Greek means that the action should be described as habitual or progressive (ongoing). What is clear is that this is not intended as a one-time event, or even a limited encounter. We are to be regularly and repeatedly filled with God’s spirit.

In addition, the command is in a voice which tells us that we are to submit to the action. We are to allow the spirit to fill us. That is why the NLT says, “Let the Holy Spirit fill and control you.” We are not supposed to work up some emotional event that is “being filled with the spirit”. No, we are told that the spirit is going to attempt to fill and control us, and we should be ready.

Why would we want or need to be filled continually, on an ongoing basis? Why is it so important to treat our time as if it were God’s; to hand over our priority-setting? There are three reasons that I want to look at: comprehension, opportunity and maturity.

Ephesians 3:16-21Ephesians 3:16-21
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
16 God is wonderful and glorious. I pray that his Spirit will make you become strong followers ¹⁷ and that Christ will live in your hearts because of your faith. Stand firm and be deeply rooted in his love. ¹⁸ . I pray that you and all of God's people will understand what is called wide or long or high or deep. h what is called wide or long or high or deep: This may refer to the heavenly Jerusalem or to God's love or wisdom or to the meaning of the cross. ¹⁹ I want you to know all about Christ's love, although it is too wonderful to be measured. Then your lives will be filled with all that God is. ²⁰-²¹ I pray that Christ Jesus and the church will forever bring praise to God. His power at work in us can do far more than we dare ask or imagine. Amen.

WP-Bible plugin tells us about comprehension and being strengthened by God. Verses 18-20 remind us …may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is… Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. So we know that God has placed his spirit within us to continually help us know Him.

That means when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are able to better understand God’s love. We are able to better grasp his character. We can see how he is merciful, just and still forgiving. We can see how he shows compassion to those we overlook. All these things are made available to our minds when we are filled with the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 5:16Ephesians 5:16
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
16 . These are evil times, so make every minute count.

WP-Bible plugin tells us to, make the most of every opportunity. If we refuse to be filled by the spirit, allowing our priorities to dictate our schedule and our involvement, then we will not act on the opportunities God places before us. We might not even see them. Please God, help us to see these opportunities. Help us to submit to your will, being filled by the Holy Spirit so that our eyes might be open and our hearts ready to serve!

Finally, Galatians 5:22-23Galatians 5:22-23
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
22 God's Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, ²³ gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against behaving in any of these ways.

WP-Bible plugin tells us about the maturity that comes when we are controlled by the Holy Spirit: But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This is full circle, from us seeing these things in God’s character, growing through the opportunities God gives us, to living in maturity through God’s spirit.

prayer

Jesus, help me to submit my time and schedule to your will. It is so easy to get swept up in the day’s details and end up at the end of the day wondering what happened. Whether it is on the golf course, lounging on the couch, at work at the coffee-counter or on the playground at church, help us to be ready to serve, filled with your spirit.

Help us to see how important it is. We can see lives changed and experience spiritual growth in our own lives more than ever before. We can see you do something in our community that is nothing but miraculous. Lord, help us to believe your word, what you say you are willing to do if we would trust you. Help me to comprehend the great love that moved you to die for me.

Send me – habitually, repeatedly, every day.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect.
If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.

1 John 4:161 John 4:16
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
16 and are sure that God loves us. God is love. If we keep on loving others, we will stay one in our hearts with God, and he will stay one with us.

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If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

1 Corinthians 13:11 Corinthians 13:1
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Love ^{13 1} What if I could speak all languages of humans and of angels? If I did not love others, I would be nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

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Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ.

Ephesians 5:1-2Ephesians 5:1-2
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
5 ¹ Do as God does. After all, you are his dear children. ² ; . Let love be your guide. Christ loved us j us: Some manuscripts have “you.” and offered his life for us as a sacrifice that pleases God.

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The Bible is replete with verses that talk about love. In fact, love is the central theme of the entire Bible!! The Bible is the chronicle of God’s ongoing, eternal love affair with mankind. God is in love with you!! God is in love with every human being walking the planet. And, as followers of Christ, we are called to be imitators of Christ, and that means we are also to love everyone. No exceptions.

Of course, some people are easier to love than others, but what depth is there to a love that really requires little to no effort? Real love, divine, Christ-like love is the kind of love that embraces the unlovable. True love is the kind that stares a difficult, stubborn, selfish, manipulative, lying, cheating, unfaithful, backstabbing, ungrateful, hateful person in the eyes and still conjures up compassion for them. That really is the kind of love that Jesus displayed to prostitutes, tax collectors, adulterers, and even Judas, the man who betrayed Him. That is also the kind of love we are to demonstrate.

Most everyone walks around with an inflated opinion of themselves, feeling pretty good about their behavior when compared to “those people.” But the truth is, all of us are sinners. All of us are the scum of the earth and we all deserve to be punished for our disobedience to God. None of us measures up to the standard of God’s holiness. But, despite that truth, God still demonstrated His love for us by sending His Son to the cross to take our punishment instead. We were and are the difficult, stubborn, selfish, manipulative, lying, cheating, unfaithful, back-stabbing, ungrateful, hateful people that God looked in the eyes and had compassion for. It wasn’t just the prostitutes and tax collectors and adulterers and Judas-es of the Bible that God died for. It was for every sinner who ever has or ever will live! And that certainly includes you and me.

God loves us when we are unlovable, and we are to show our gratitude for that kind of love by offering the same to others. This kind of love ALWAYS requires sacrifice. Ultimately it cost Jesus His life, and ultimately it will cost you yours as well. You will have to lay down your will and your agenda, your wants and desires and needs, in deference to those around you, so you can turn your focus from yourself to others. And, as those around you are obedient and do the same thing toward you, your needs will be met also. When we love, we are loved in return. When we’re selfish and egocentric, we find loneliness and isolation are our companions. The way to get love is to give it away!

God is love personified. I love that concept. God literally IS love. That is His nature, His character, His being. He is love walking, breathing, and acting. I want that to be my nature too. I want people to know that Jesus’ love is alive in me, and I want them to be recipients of that love through me! May we truly be known as Jesus’ disciples, His children, by our love for one another!

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• When you think of yourself, do you feel like God should find it pretty easy to love you?
• Who in your life is not the easiest person to love?
• Who is God calling you to show His love to today?

prayer

Read anew this well-known prayer by St. Francis of Assisi, taking to heart the earnest sentiments expressed by this follower of Christ. Can you make this your prayer today?

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Ephesians 5:1, 2Ephesians 5:1, 2
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
5 ¹ Do as God does. After all, you are his dear children. ² ; . Let love be your guide. Christ loved us j us: Some manuscripts have “you.” and offered his life for us as a sacrifice that pleases God.

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When I was younger I often heard the question, “What are you going to do with your life?” It sounds like a reasonable question to ask someone just starting out, but if you belong to Christ, the question carries an untrue assumption. Our lives are not out own. We do not have ownership of our present, or our futures. If you are in Christ, you are bought with a price; purchased out of slavery to sin. And you no longer call the shots. As the kosher foods commercial says, you “answer to a higher authority”.

What is not true about this purchased life is that you automatically make the right choices, and act as some kind of spiritual robot. No, Christ has not taken away our free will when he bought our lives. So, even though our ownership is not our own, we do have a choice of how we spend our time each day. And therein lies the problem. We do not always choose to follow his direction, to engage in the activities he wants us to, or to spend our time in ways that honor and reflect him. That is the continual struggle we face as long as we are on this earth. Perhaps if we look more closely at the facts of our lives belonging to God, we will understand the purpose behind and the benefits of living our lives wholly devoted to him.

Who were we before Christ?

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

Ephesians 2:1-3Ephesians 2:1-3
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
From Death to Life ^{2 1} . In the past you were dead because you sinned and fought against God. ² You followed the ways of this world and obeyed the devil. He rules the world, and his spirit has power over everyone who doesn't obey God. ³ Once we were also ruled by the selfish desires of our bodies and minds. We had made God angry, and we were going to be punished like everyone else.

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Maybe you thought you were not that bad. Maybe you thought, like my grandmother, that you hardly ever left the house, so you certainly were not a bad sinner! But clearly the scripture says we were dead in our sins, bound for the hell that we deserved as enemies of Christ. You may not have committed any of the BIG sins, but by nature you are a sinner and separated from God.

What did Christ do for us?

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:4-7Ephesians 2:4-7
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
4-⁵ But God was merciful! We were dead because of our sins, but God loved us so much that he made us alive with Christ, and God's wonderful kindness is what saves you. ⁶ God raised us from death to life with Christ Jesus, and he has given us a place beside Christ in heaven. ⁷ God did this so that in the future world he could show how truly good and kind he is to us because of what Christ Jesus has done.

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His love was the motivation—love extended to us even when we were his enemies. His plan to save us was to take Jesus’ death in our place. And with that gift of his life, we also received the right to become children of God and share in all the inheritance that Christ has. Just think about that. While we were deserving of death and hell, we instead were given life, and were adopted into God’s family. What a gift! What unspeakable gratitude we should have.

What should our response be?

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

Romans 12:1Romans 12:1
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Christ Brings New Life ^{12 1} Dear friends, God is good. So I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That's the most sensible way to serve God.

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Our response should be to give our whole life to him. In that we are willing to go where he asks us to go, and do what he asks us to do. That will involve the job we work, the activities we choose to involve ourselves in and the place we find to serve the body of Christ. It will affect how we do that job, how we play those activities, and how we perform our jobs of service. We should perform, act and live as a living sacrifice, as one who totally belongs to God and does not own his own life. In that way we will demonstrate to all around what it means to be a child of God. This surrendered life is a tiny sacrifice, but it is all we can give to him. It is our spiritual act of worship.

thoughts to ponder

• Who do I believe owns my life?
• Do I live like I am totally surrendered to Him?
• Do my activities and attitudes show all around me that I belong to God?

prayer

Lord Jesus, thank you for all that you have done for me. Thank you for giving your life for me when I was your enemy and bound for hell. Thank you for taking me into your family, and blessing me with all spiritual blessings. Help me to remember that I belong to you, and help me give you my entire life. May everything I do reflect my surrendered, sacrificed life. Amen.