Wednesday, August 19, 2026

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. … Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. (Romans 12:1-2, 6-8)

Paul tells us to offer our bodies to God as a living sacrifice. That’s an odd way to phrase it, don’t you think? Because all the sacrifices we know about are dead ones!

The Israelites sacrificed animals—sheep and goats and cattle and birds. Other nations also sacrificed animals, and even human beings sometimes. But there was one thing they all had in common. By the time the sacrifice was over, the offering was dead. Human instinct tells us that we are in trouble with God, even if we don’t really know Him, even if we think of Him as multiple gods. And it also tells us that the only way to make peace and find favor in God’s eyes is for something to die. And so the custom of killing sacrifices is found around the world.

Of course, none of these sacrifices actually did what we wanted them to do. If they had, we wouldn’t have had to repeat them, over and over again! (See Hebrews 10:1-10.) What they did was to keep the memory of our sin alive. It’s hard to forget that things are not right when you’re continually offering new sacrifices.

But God didn’t intend that state of affairs to go on forever. He came into our world to sacrifice Himself for our sakes, and to do it once and for all. Jesus’ willing death on the cross takes away all our wrongdoing, past, present, and future. And because God raised Jesus from the dead, we know that His sacrifice has been accepted and our sins are truly forgiven. No further sacrifice needs to be made to gain forgiveness for all eternity.

But sacrifices don’t exist only to wipe out guilt and shame. Sometimes people offer them to say thank You to God—or just because they love Him. And that kind of sacrifice continues even today, in our own bodies—our living bodies. We love Jesus, and we show that love by offering our very selves to God every day of our lives. As we walk through our days, we have the Holy Spirit living in us and through us, doing the things that Jesus would do—loving the lonely, helping the troubled, caring for the helpless. We are happy to give ourselves this way to the Lord who loves us, because this is how we can love Him back.

WE PRAY: Lord Jesus, You gave Yourself for me because You loved me. I love You, and so I offer my life to You. Use me. Amen.

This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.

Reflection Questions:

1. Are you glad that we no longer need to kill sacrifices?
2. What is one tiny thing you have done for love of Jesus?
3. How does the Holy Spirit make it possible for you to do things you find difficult for love of Jesus? What are some examples?

Today's Readings:

Psalms 73, 85
1 Corinthians 11:17-34

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