Romans 12

This devotional is written by Tom Dixon.

A living sacrifice
12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Humble service in the body of Christ
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Love in action
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practise hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:

‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Isn’t God incredible? As I was reading this passage the part which stood out to me was verses 6 to 8, in which we’re encouraged to act out our faith “according to the grace given to each of us”. I find it really freeing that we’re given so many ways to outwardly explore and show our faith. Isn’t it great that we’re not all just called to serve in one strict uniformed way according to set rules. We worship a creative wonderful God who has designed us with different personalities, gifts and characteristics. We all work in different ways, so it makes sense for us all to express our faith in different ways.

Read verses 6-8 again, then reflect how God might wish to use you. But also consider what you think comes most naturally to you and importantly which of those gifts you might enjoy exploring. God is not calling us to be constricted or awkward, He’s freeing us and enabling us to add our personality into the way that we enjoy our faith so that we can be more comfortable in our faith. I’m not saying we won’t need to step outside of our comfort zones in order to do this, these things can still be a big ask, but isn’t it great that God gives us creative freedom over how we worship him. It’s not one-size-fits-all, he’s calling us to a personal and bespoke faith with Him.

So, I pray that you can read this passage and that you have fun exploring your gifts, and by doing so I pray you’ll find more of what God’s  “good, pleasing and perfect will”  is for your life.