I'm very excited to introduce our newest MONTHLY feature,
"MEN Weigh In"!
The men have spoken - and I believe you will be blessed by their responses. I know I have been! God never ceases to amaze me. The guys that will be weighing in here (and right now there are four of them) are men that I know personally. Men that I have seen walking in Christ - sincerely - for years. Men who not only, talk the talk, but walk the walk - to the BEST of their abilities. They love Christ with all of their hearts, and I value and appreciate their input. These are our brothers in Christ. We are here to grow and evolve; they are doing the same. We will all surely be mutually blessed by the contributions they make and the conversation it provokes.
I'm sure we all know men and women can look at something and see things COMPLETELY different. Or maybe that's just my experience... but I doubt it! Lol. With that being said, prayerfully, we will all be blessed, challenged, and encouraged to grow by exchanging perspectives and thought-provoking dialogue with the opposite sex.
I chose to have the male contributors remain anonymous. I feel that their responses will be more genuine and authentic if they are able to share freely, without the constraints that accompany having their names/identities exposed.
I chose to have the male contributors remain anonymous. I feel that their responses will be more genuine and authentic if they are able to share freely, without the constraints that accompany having their names/identities exposed.
1st TOPIC:
On facebook we have been discussing three concepts: what it means to present your
1. body as a living sacrifice,
2. how that is our "reasonable service", and
3. what it means not to "conform"...
Romans 12:1-2 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
WE ASKED: What do these (3) concepts mean to YOU and what are practical examples of application in your/our day-to-day lives?
HE RESPONDED:
Male Contributor #1 said, " In regards to presenting your body as a living sacrifice - this means that everything that you do should be pleasing to God and the Kingdom. We are all created for a purpose and it is for service, we all should be serving in ministry and serving each other. God is LOVE and nothing pleases HIM more than showing LOVE to EVERYONE, it especially makes HIM happy when you LOVE those who have done bad things to you and when you love those who don't love you back. In Philippians 2:1-4 "Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests of the others." Those scriptures to me tell it all. When they speak of "being united with Christ" that for us to LOVE everyone is to be like Christ, to have a mind of Christ. That's where that acronym WWJD (what would Jesus do) it helped people to remember that our minds should be like Christ.
3.) Not to conform simply means not to allow the things OUTSIDE of Christ to take over your thoughts, actions and your heart. This is the hardest thing I think for a Christian to do, because the world has many vices, those vices are good and bad but where we fail is trying to determine the two. Sometimes we get caught up and God has to put a test on us to bring us back to HIM.
For me I try my best to serve God in many different capacities, I serve in several ministries at church, I bring my tithes and my offering, I try not to never be at church without an offering. I help others the best that I can when I can, and i'm a witness to knowing that when you sow seeds they come back right when you need them, not when you want them but when you need them. I'm conformed to this world everyday, we can't help that, we were born into sin so sin is in us, everyday I wake up and I say "I am dead to sin and alive to Christ" as reminder. You just have to get through each day the best way that you can in a way that is pleasing to GOD. We are going to make mistakes but as long as you learn from them and apply what you learn the next time you encounter something like that then I think GOD is pleased. Be Blessed!" ~ 32- year old male contributor (we'll call him #1, for now)
3.) Not to conform simply means not to allow the things OUTSIDE of Christ to take over your thoughts, actions and your heart. This is the hardest thing I think for a Christian to do, because the world has many vices, those vices are good and bad but where we fail is trying to determine the two. Sometimes we get caught up and God has to put a test on us to bring us back to HIM.
For me I try my best to serve God in many different capacities, I serve in several ministries at church, I bring my tithes and my offering, I try not to never be at church without an offering. I help others the best that I can when I can, and i'm a witness to knowing that when you sow seeds they come back right when you need them, not when you want them but when you need them. I'm conformed to this world everyday, we can't help that, we were born into sin so sin is in us, everyday I wake up and I say "I am dead to sin and alive to Christ" as reminder. You just have to get through each day the best way that you can in a way that is pleasing to GOD. We are going to make mistakes but as long as you learn from them and apply what you learn the next time you encounter something like that then I think GOD is pleased. Be Blessed!" ~ 32- year old male contributor (we'll call him #1, for now)
Male Contributor #2 said, "Ok first point.. presenting your body as a living sacrifice...thats pretty simple. To me it means being in position to be used at all times. For all the believers of the word you all understand that this is not our body. We are just renting it until we fulfill our purpose. So knowing that, being a living sacrifice means our position is "God, where ever you want me to go I'll go, what ever you want me to do I'll do, what ever you want me say or think that's what I'm going to do - no matter what the situation is or how it looks period. For example.. if I own houses and I have a person living in it, there's nothing that person can do to that house without getting my permission. Also anytime I want to make a decision as the owner that person has to sacrifice pride and any other feelings about that situation because he is not authorized to make decisions about that situation. So relating that back to us, this is not our body this is God's body. We have to seek gods guidance and permission before we move to the next step.
Second point... "reasonable service" basically means your duty to do something. For example...if you got hired at a grocery store, it is your "reasonable service" to provide food, customer service etc etc. If you get drafted in the nba, it is your "reasonable service" to train, be in top shape, give it everything you got, do, say, or go where ever the owner tells you to etc etc. Your mother gave birth to you, it is your "reasonable service" to make good grades in school, do all you can to help her out etc etc. You get the point. lol So relating this to the spiritual side...God is our father. Nothing and I repeat NOTHING would be possible without him PERIOD. He gave his only son to die so we can have eternal life with him. So as his children and believers of his word it is our "reasonable service" to give him nothing less then our life. That is our job - to give him our life and live how he wants us to - period.
Third point..."conform"...websters says it means "-to act in accord with the prevailing standards, attitudes, practices, etc., of society or a group: One has to conform in order to succeed in this company.. to be or become similar in form, nature, or character."
So to me that means to adapt or to shape and mode something to fit in what ever environment that thing or person is. For example.. If I live a neighborhood where there is nothing but gangsters, and I become one because I want to fit it with them or that environment then that means I just conformed myself. Another example... I know I'm a Christian but I have friends that are always at the clubs, drunk, and acting crazy. But because I want them to be my friends and not look at me differently, I do the same thing they do. That's conforming. As believers we have to remind ourselves that we live in this world but we are not of the world so we can't conform to what the devil throws our way. We are to be different and God's image/reflection. We only conform to righteousness." ~ 21-year old male contributor (calling him #2, for now)
Second point... "reasonable service" basically means your duty to do something. For example...if you got hired at a grocery store, it is your "reasonable service" to provide food, customer service etc etc. If you get drafted in the nba, it is your "reasonable service" to train, be in top shape, give it everything you got, do, say, or go where ever the owner tells you to etc etc. Your mother gave birth to you, it is your "reasonable service" to make good grades in school, do all you can to help her out etc etc. You get the point. lol So relating this to the spiritual side...God is our father. Nothing and I repeat NOTHING would be possible without him PERIOD. He gave his only son to die so we can have eternal life with him. So as his children and believers of his word it is our "reasonable service" to give him nothing less then our life. That is our job - to give him our life and live how he wants us to - period.
Third point..."conform"...websters says it means "-to act in accord with the prevailing standards, attitudes, practices, etc., of society or a group: One has to conform in order to succeed in this company.. to be or become similar in form, nature, or character."
So to me that means to adapt or to shape and mode something to fit in what ever environment that thing or person is. For example.. If I live a neighborhood where there is nothing but gangsters, and I become one because I want to fit it with them or that environment then that means I just conformed myself. Another example... I know I'm a Christian but I have friends that are always at the clubs, drunk, and acting crazy. But because I want them to be my friends and not look at me differently, I do the same thing they do. That's conforming. As believers we have to remind ourselves that we live in this world but we are not of the world so we can't conform to what the devil throws our way. We are to be different and God's image/reflection. We only conform to righteousness." ~ 21-year old male contributor (calling him #2, for now)
Contributor #3 - The inspiration and motivation for Romans chapter 12, beginning at verse 1, can be found in Romans chapters 10-11. Our traditions and prior teachings have isolated and relegated this area of the Pauline epistle to mere personal and individual salvation. While there is credence to that position (for everyone must present their own bodies as living sacrifices) the main objective for Paul's letter was to tackle a controversial theological subject on salvation for/of the Jews. The Apostle Paul confronted the Gentiles as a whole, who for the most part, assumed an arrogance in regards to their Divine acceptance due to the Jews rejection of the finished work of Christ Jesus upon the cross. He told them not to boast against the branches(Jews) seeing that they (Gentiles) were grafted in. He pinpointed a mystery in which God partially caused blindness of the Jews to Jesus' messianic existence in order to bring the gospel to the Gentiles; hence the reason for the word "therefore" in Romans 12;1. Thus, the Apostle Paul strongly urged the Gentiles to present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy and blameless from the world. "By the mercies of God" can now be viewed as the motivation for the complete denial of self. God so graciously showed mercy towards a people who weren't from the loins of Abraham, all the while permitting a veil to cover Israel's spiritual understanding in rejecting the Messiah who came to deliver them. This painful rejection wasn't arbitrary, for it served a far greater Sovereign plan to include strangers,aliens and foreigners into a plan of redemption they certainly didn't deserve! He begged for us not to be conformed (shaped, fashioned, constructed) by the same worldly influences that produced our very state generationally. He urged the Gentiles to undergo a metamorphosis in which their renewed thinking would perpetually yield a changing of their very nature. Thus, they would confirm and manifest the very nature of the olive tree they were grafted into; proving the good, acceptable and perfect will of God who chose, in His Omniscience, this method for salvation to all who believe. - Contributor #3 - Ladies, can you tell we have a Pastor in our midst?? :)
| Oh, Wow! The difference on how the male and female mind works is vast!! I've studied these verses time and time again, and have NEVER come at it from this angle. I have truly been blessed by my brothers' responses. Romans 12:1-2 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.To me, to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, is to cherish our bodies as His temple. They are not our own to misuse and abuse. To me, it means, to not degrade our bodies but to honor them and demand that others honor and respect them as well. I have applied it in the area of celibacy, in the area of physical fitness (taking care of this temple), diet, in the music I listen to, the movies I watch... we have to guard our hearts and our minds. It's so easy to defile our bodies. When we present our bodies, how will our sacrifice be received? What are we presenting to our Heavenly Father? This has been my approach. I love that my brothers have given me another aspect of presenting myself as a living sacrifice. I think the common thread is that, we are not our own, but God's. His will. Not ours. That HAS to be our focus, if we are to present our bodies a living sacrifice... we sacrifice our will, for HIS.
I would like to take this moment to thank our brothers for sharing their heart for God with us. I would also like to thank God for sharing His heart and His vision with ME and pushing me to share it with YOU. I pray that you are blessed.
Let the conversation continue, what are YOUR thoughts?
What do these (3) concepts mean to YOU and what are practical examples of application in your/our day-to-day lives?
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