A Living SacrificeSample

"Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother." (Romans 14:13 ESV)

Caution to all you living sacrifices. If the enemy cannot tempt us to fall into willful sin, and we feel like we are gaining strength and momentum in the Holy Spirit, beware of beginning to think we are better than others. Ugh! It happens all the time. We talked about doing some self-examination with the Holy Spirit, asking Him to identify anything in our life that needs to change. I gave you the Susanna Wesley definition of sin, which talks about some things that may not even seem like sins.

Hebrews 12:1 alludes to this as well,“Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” There are obvious sins that are near and dear to our hearts unfortunately. But there are also things that are not sins, but get in the way of our race. They are called “weights” or in other translations, “hindrances.” Again, if we ask the Holy Spirit to identify if we have any of these, He will graciously show you.

And when we have the courage and obedience to do something about these areas, we feel the Lord’s pleasure and a newfound peace and freedom. Then, we start thinking everyone should act like us so they can feel this freedom. We have to remember that each person has their own Holy Spirit life Improvement Plan. It’s not for us to prescribe our plan to others.

Paul tells us to be careful not to cause others to stumble. This may mean that we need to eliminate something from our life for the sake of others. For example, leaders and teachers in the church are held to higher standards. And there are “weaker brothers and sisters” that are looking to us, before they understand they need to look to Christ. We may be the only Jesus they see initially.

So, we must pay attention and put others’ interests ahead of our own.