A Living SacrificeSample

"Repay no one evil for evil…" (Romans 12:17a ESV)

So it’s day 16, which means some of you have done this Reading Plan for 15 days in a row. We'll see if getting into God’s Word is becoming a habit, or better yet, a lifestyle. By now, you may be understanding that being a living sacrifice will not be easy. And there will be opportunities all the time for this to be tested. Paul is going verse by verse in Romans 12, admonishing us with different situations and examples, and most of the examples he gives seem to do with relationships with others. Years ago, I heard a pastor say this: “Don’t endeavor to be a shepherd, if you don’t like the smell of sheep.” Yes, we humans with our sin nature can be very smelly, can’t we? And we can hurt each other.

Another pastor went through a discipleship group I was leading, and we walked with him through a horrible situation as he discovered his wife was having an affair. Our hearts broke with him, and we were amazed to watch him handle the situation. In our group, we were learning how to Abide in Christ, and this man showed us what it looked like, as he was willing to forgive his wife and work things out.

He went away by himself to a cabin in Colorado to seek the Lord in his desperation. Later, he told me that Jesus impressed upon him this thought. “If you want to be like Me, you will have to be betrayed to fully understand what it’s like to be Me.”

Talk about a countercultural attitude. In our flesh and in this world, we are told, “Don’t get mad, get even.” And many will quote the verse from the Old Testament, “An eye for an eye.” (Exodus 21:24-25 ESV) As God was setting up communities and societies, there were many rules to help people understand that He is a God of justice and that our actions matter. But Jesus, the ultimate model of a Living Sacrifice, says this, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Matthew 5:38-39 ESV

And we saw Jesus live this out as He went through His arrest, His mock trial full false accusations, His beating and even hearing his fellow Jews shouting, “Crucify him!”

"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth." Isaiah 53:7 ESV