Living Sacrifice

WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL BY PATRICE TSAGUE

What is a living sacrifice?
What did the Apostle Paul mean when he instructed us to present ourselves as living sacrifices?

Living Sacrifice

A sacrifice is an offering that involves the death of that which is being offered. And so, the term “living sacrifice” would appear to be a contradiction in terms. However, the Apostle Paul was speaking about laying down every desire of the flesh as a love offering to God and offering our very lives as a sacrifice, in worshipful service to our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wrote extensively on this subject throughout the New Testament, but the idea of dying to self while being alive in Christ is perhaps best expressed in Galatians 2:20 when he wrote:

Wow! What a powerful statement. This helps to better grasp what is meant by becoming a living sacrifice for the Glory of God. All that we do, we do for Him, and in His strength, because we have sacrificed our own desires to willingly become a vessel that can be used by Him to fulfill His Kingdom’s purposes.

Just like the Apostle Paul, those of us who operate in the marketplace must crucify ourselves with Christ.  We must put to death our agendas, our personal goals, our ambitions, our desires, and our feelings. We must completely surrender our lives and everything we are to Christ’s agenda. Until we do this, our spirit man will be unable to become fully alive, and Christ in us, the hope of Glory (Colossians 1:27), will be in conflict with our flesh.

But if we willingly submit our lives as a love offering and a living sacrifice to the LORD, then our flesh will not stand in the way of what God wants us to do in the marketplace, and in every other area of our lives.  

Marketplace ministry is about God doing His work through us and releasing His will, through His submitted servants, into the marketplace. His Kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).  

How do I know if I am truly crucified and if I have died to myself?

1. I accept God’s appointments for me without disappointment – regardless of the challenges that may be part of those appointments
2. I accept God’s will without complaining – whether it leads to favorable or unfavorable circumstances for me 
3. I am not moved by things or by power but by the Spirit of God 
4. My decisions are not based on how I feel, but on how I am led by the Holy Spirit
5. I do not have a personal agenda – but I do have a Kingdom agenda

What are the benefits of a sacrificial lifestyle?

1. Jesus Christ is glorified in everything that you do
2. The Kingdom of God is advanced 
3. You will finish the race 
4. You will inherit eternal rewards 
5. You will live a life of personal fulfillment
6. You will be able to resist temptation 
7. God will trust you with wealth, power, and influence – in ever-increasing measure

What truly moves your heart and your spirit?  Are you dead to the desires of the flesh? The Bible reminds us that “for whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:25). Go ahead and “pull the trigger”; die to self so that you may live in Christ.  

My prayer for you today is that, like the Apostle Paul, you will find great joy in the laying down of
your own will and your own desires as a living sacrifice before the King of Kings, so that Christ in you, the Hope of Glory, may shine forth in the marketplace, and that His Kingdom may come and His will may be done in you and through you.