A Living SacrificeSample

"Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight." (Romans 12:16 ESV)

Paul continues to help us understand the difference between living for this world and for ourselves and being a living sacrifice. He is very specific, and he is not letting up. This is clearly a high calling and clearly one which requires the help of the Holy Spirit. Everything He describes was modeled by Jesus.

Jesus cares about us getting along with one another and having unity. In his prayer for believers on the night of betrayal, He prays:

“The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me."John 17:22-23 ESV

And Psalm 133:1ESV says,“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!”

Jesus knows that this becomes difficult when people start getting prideful. He saw it as He encountered the Pharisees, who were the religious leaders of that day. They began measuring everyone against their standard of perfection. And it appears this religious attitude slipped into the Christian church later, as well. Apparently, churches were showing favoritism to those who appeared to have wealth. James rebukes them, “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.” James 2:8-9 ESV

Oswald Chambers warns Christians about not becoming spiritual prigs. "It is the attitude of a spiritual prig to go about with a countenance that is a rebuke to others because you have the idea that they are shallower than you.” If we are walking around with spiritual pride, it will surely cause disharmony and it is a sign that we have not died to our old self and the world system. Forgive us and help us, Lord, to be more like You.