Christians cannot be self-indulgent, as getting for ourselves is contrary to the way of God, which is the way of love, of give, and of outgoing concern. Selfishness in any form distorts the essence of Christianity, undermining the sacrifices and the freely given grace of God that sustain it. As Paul teaches in Romans 12:1, we are called to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service. Most of us are not required to die as martyrs, but we must sacrifice ourselves while living by maintaining holiness and acceptability before Him. This daily life as members of the Family of God involves intensive sacrifice, making the Christian life hard. Our frequent sacrifices often center on the conflict between the ways of this world and the way of God, requiring us to give up worldly desires that draw us back or to sacrifice aspects of ourselves to meet the high standards God has set for His people. Sacrifice is the key to overcoming sin and making progress toward the Kingdom of God, despite the internal resistance we feel to letting go of harmful things like anger, offense, gossip, lies, hatred, pride, and greed, which our human natures cling to as part of who we are.

The concept of a living sacrifice is central to our relationship with God. It is through our daily sacrifices of obedience, prayer, praise, and mindshare that we respond to God's ultimate sacrifice, receiving His presence and enabling Spirit. These daily acts of sacrifice are how God helps us overcome our self-focused carnal nature, transforming it into a God-focused and others-focused nature. Little by little, with each sacrifice to Him, we gradually put to death our carnal nature, becoming more like God. Sacrifice is the means by which God creates us into His image. Our sacrifices must encompass both devotion to God and service to man. Sacrifices in devotion to God, akin to burnt offerings, are unacceptable without the corresponding sacrifices in service to man, akin to grain offerings. These daily sacrifices to each other include controlling our mind, bridling our tongue, giving of our time and resources, forbearance, forgiving wrongdoing, and sacrificing our egos to maintain peace. When we walk in God's Spirit of unmerited sacrifice each day, we are gradually putting our self-focused carnal spirit to death, becoming more God-focused and others-focused. Sacrifice, by definition, requires a cost—the giving up of something valuable for a greater benefit. It demands a denial of what we want, a loss of something we value, or a suffering we would rather avoid. Our carnal mind resists sacrifice, especially unmerited sacrifice, due to the fear of losing self-esteem. Yet, we must reframe sacrifice as an investment, focusing on the spiritual outcome and the lasting dividends of eternal life. Through our imperfections and mistakes, we create opportunities to learn how to give unmerited sacrifice, mirroring the way of God, who gives unmerited sacrifice as Jesus Christ did for us. We are being built up as a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. With each daily sacrifice of devotion to God through service to Him, and through each daily sacrifice of devotion to God through unmerited service to man, we are being transformed into the fullness of Jesus Christ. Sacrifice is not just one thing; it is everything, reflecting the greatest investment God and Jesus Christ made before the foundation of the world to cover the sins of all mankind for all time.

God's purpose for us, as revealed in His Word, calls us to strive to live as Christ did, becoming a living sacrifice in our daily lives. This concept of a living sacrifice parallels Christ's own life, where He offered Himself completely to God, not just in His death, but in the way He lived every moment. As we obey God's instructions and resist the pull of human nature, we sacrifice ourselves to His purpose, mirroring the daily spiritual sacrifice that continues from the Old Covenant into our lives today. This living sacrifice is reflected in the burnt offering described in Leviticus, which represents total devotion to God, a sweet savor to Him, indicating no sin but rather a voluntary and wholehearted surrender. Christ, in living His life as a perfect example, gave Himself as a gift to the Father, a life wholly devoted from beginning to end. We, too, are called to make a gift of ourselves to God, identifying with the offering by surrendering every aspect of our lives—our thoughts, emotions, actions, and strength—to His will. Paul's words remind us of this parallel, showing that as Christ was crucified, we are to die daily to our flesh, making choices to give up selfish desires and grow in spiritual character. This process of becoming a living sacrifice requires our active participation, as we cannot passively conform to God's image but must choose to follow Christ's example. By striving to live as He lived, with total devotion and voluntary surrender, we fulfill God's purpose to be sculpted into His holy and righteous character.

Sacrifice is the core of what God desires from us each day. From the beginning, God has instructed mankind on the requirements for proper sacrifice. Jesus Christ's sacrifice was foreordained before the foundation of the world, serving as both substitutional and representative. His substitutional sacrifice, a once-for-all perfect offering, opens the door to our relationship with God, allowing God the Father and God the Son to dwell with us through Their enabling Spirit. Representatively, Jesus Christ's living sacrifices on earth exemplify the daily offerings we must make through our own living sacrifices. Our daily sacrifices to God involve whole burnt offerings of our mind, time, repentance, obedience, prayer, study, and praise, through which we put to death our carnal nature. This allows God to dwell with us and bring His Spirit, enabling us to perform daily sacrifices in service to others through grain offerings. These grain offerings occur when we sacrifice our egos, put others first, and create peace. Only when these sacrifices are done together, with the proper attitude, can we achieve perfect communion with God and fellow man, as represented by the peace offering. Sacrifice requires the action of giving up something valuable for a greater benefit, involving denial, loss, or suffering we might prefer to avoid. All the fruit of God's Spirit stems from humble sacrifice. We are called to serve one another through sacrifice, which is the bond of perfection, enabling us to become at one with God by responding to His initial sacrifice for us. Through daily sacrifices, we overcome our selfish carnal nature to become like God, offering sacrifices to each other in service and devotion.

The concept of a living sacrifice is deeply woven into the sacrificial laws, which not only describe Jesus Christ, our model and example, but also illustrate the way God intends mankind to live. These laws, though archaic in their original context, remain spiritually applicable today, urging us to walk in His steps with a high level of dedication to holiness. The difficult part of this calling is laying ourselves out in sacrifice to express love, for without such sacrifice, we may never see solutions to our relationship problems. Our holy God demands that those who serve Him must also be holy, meaning set apart, different, and clean, reflecting His transcendent purity. This purity requires us to rid ourselves of spiritual uncleanness, symbolized by physical defilements in the ancient instructions, and to strive for cleanliness through discipline and repentance. Despite our efforts, complete deliverance from the burden of sin can only come through the work of Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice precedes us and allows us to partake of the holy food at the Lord's table. Fellowship with God and the privilege of eating spiritual food from His table are conditioned upon maintaining the purity provided by Christ's sacrifice. Our part in this is to follow His example of thorough dedication, as seen in the burnt and meal offerings, demonstrating our understanding of faith, love, sacrifice, and thanksgiving. God has invested greatly to provide this fellowship for us, and the least we can do is offer back to Him our full devotion as a living sacrifice in our daily lives.

I beseech you with all my heart to present yourselves as living sacrifices, driven by the boundless mercies of God. These mercies, vast and undeserved, encompass every blessing, every act of forgiveness, every strength and revelation He has poured upon us. Because of all that He has done, we owe Him our very beings, urged to offer ourselves wholly in response to His grace. In the backdrop of old covenant practices, where dead sacrifices of animals were offered without lasting effect, we now stand under a new way through Jesus Christ. Unlike those lifeless offerings, we are called to be living sacrifices, useful and continuous, a sweet savor to God, presented often as part of our daily walk. This sacrifice demands the totality of our being. It is not merely our physical bodies, but our entire selves—mind, spirit, and will—that we must offer. Every aspect, from head to toe, must be given completely to God, reflecting a full surrender of who we are. Our living sacrifice must also meet the qualifications of being holy and acceptable to God. Holiness means being set apart, dedicated, and pure, unblemished in our offering. It must align with His will and standards, ensuring that what we present is pleasing to Him, not merely what we deem fitting. Finally, understand that presenting ourselves as living sacrifices is the essence of true worship. It is our reasonable service, a logical and spiritual response to all that God has done. This service, rendered as He commands, is righteous activity that honors Him, aligning with His prescribed way rather than our own notions of worship.

The call to follow Jesus Christ is a call to a life of complete surrender and sacrifice. He requires us to deny ourselves, renouncing personal desires and ambitions, and to prioritize Him above all else, even our own lives. As He instructs in Luke 14:26, we must be willing to place Him before family and self, showing that true discipleship demands total commitment. This self-denial is not a mere suggestion but a fundamental requirement of being His disciple. Furthermore, Jesus commands us to take up our cross, an instrument of torture and death, symbolizing our willingness to submit to God's will, no matter the cost. This act of voluntarily bearing our cross reflects a readiness to endure suffering, persecution, or even death for His sake, as seen in I Peter 4:1-2, where we are urged to arm ourselves with the same mind as Christ, who suffered in the flesh. Such submission means living not for personal lusts but for the will of God, embracing whatever hardships come as part of our calling. The paradox of this living sacrifice is evident in Mark 8:35, where Jesus declares that whoever loses their life for His sake and the gospel's will save it. This principle begins at baptism, a symbolic death to our old self, and continues daily as we sacrifice our worldly hopes and dreams. We pledge to die to this world, understanding that the fullness of eternal life is granted only after this physical life ends, with the promise of a reward far surpassing all we have given up. Following Christ means becoming His slaves, as noted in Romans 6:22, willingly obeying His will in all things, even to the point of death. This slave mentality requires immediate and cheerful obedience to our Master, mirroring the total dedication Jesus Himself displayed throughout His life and ministry. He gave everything, exhausting Himself in service, and ultimately spilling His life for us, asking nothing of us that He did not first do Himself. Yet, amidst this call to give all, there is profound hope and security. As Jesus assures in John 10:27-30, His sheep hear His voice and follow Him, and He gives them eternal life, ensuring that no one can snatch them from His or His Father's hand. Despite the immense sacrifice required, we are safely held by the greatest power, with the promise of an eternal reward waiting for us as we commit fully to imitating and following Him.

As we strive to stand with Christ upon His return and reflect the character of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, we are called to be imitators of God as dear children. This high calling, as expressed in Ephesians 5:1-2, urges us to walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. This imitation of God focuses primarily on embodying His love, which is to be forgiving, giving, and living. This living love, as described in Ephesians 5:2, suggests a practical and active love, encompassing the essence of Christian living. It means putting off negative behaviors such as lying, anger, stealing, unwholesome talk, bitterness, and malice, and instead adopting truthfulness, peace, honest work, helpful speech, kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. Furthermore, this living love is made alive by the very life of God, reflecting an eternal love that mirrors His eternal nature. As Romans 8:35-39 assures us, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, emphasizing the permanence and strength of His love that we are to emulate. To truly live this life of love, we must spend time with God through prayer, Bible study, and worship, mimicking His actions, echoing His speech, and duplicating His behavior. Only by such close fellowship can we become like Him, allowing our lives to shine as a sweet-smelling fragrance to God through our actions, treatment of others, and offerings. Thus, we are urged to be forgiving, giving, and living in our imitation of God, actively working out the love that has been worked into us as we prepare for the ultimate destiny of standing with Christ.