Romans 12:3

Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. It is vital for all of us to have a true understanding of ourselves. If we go around with an inflated view of our own importance, the whole of life will look distorted. Relationships will be damaged, and we will add layers of difficulty to everyday life. It is just as damaging to have too low a view of ourselves. If we go into the day feeling that we are unimportant and don’t count, we are liable to be steamrollered by the smallest of difficulties. What we need is an accurate understanding of who we are, and that’s what we gain by faith. As we place our trust in God, we learn that we are made in his image and are of infinite worth. Nothing we do is unimportant when we know that the Holy Spirit is filling us and directing our actions. The apostle Paul is clearly very concerned about this subject and presents it to the Roman church as a warning at the beginning of this section on living the Christian life. He knew the destructive power of arrogance, and was aware that it could creep into any area of life, including the Church. The moment anyone claims that they know best, there are problems. That’s why God is so firmly opposed to arrogance. Proverbs tells us that “the LORD detests the proud” (Proverbs 16:5) and warns us that “pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). God invites us to live a life of humility which means that, however strongly we might feel about something, we are always ready to learn, and always willing to admit that we might be wrong. Jesus couldn’t possibly have been clearer on the subject. When the disciples asked him who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, he said that unless they changed and became like little children, they would never be able to gain entry. Time and again, the disciples were in competition with one another, but they needed to learn that humility was the key to blessing in God’s kingdom – and it still is.

Question In whose life have you seen true humility?

Prayer Lord God, help me to learn more today about living humbly before you. Amen

Romans 12:2

Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Every day, our thinking is being shaped by our society. Most of the time, we are totally unaware that this is happening, but there is no way that we can avoid being influenced by the expectations and standards of the people around us, by the information and views that we receive through the media and by ingenious and attractive advertising. We won’t swallow all of it whole, but we cannot be immune from those many powerful influences. As J B Phillips put it in his famous Bible translation, we need to resist the world’s attempts to squeeze us “into its own mould”. The apostle Paul said we need God to transform us by changing the way we think. This is incredibly radical, but without it we will continue to be the same as we have always been. When Jesus met Nicodemus, a respected Jewish rabbi, he told him that he had to be born again. This sounded like nonsense to Nicodemus, who couldn’t understand how he could possibly enter his mother’s womb for a second time. Jesus had to explain that the new birth that he was talking about was a new spiritual birth, which would lead to a new spiritual life. The only way for our lives to be transformed is by allowing the Holy Spirit to shape our thinking. It will never happen by our own efforts and reflections. The outcome of this transformative process is that we will know what God’s will is, and that must be the ultimate goal for all of us. Every day, we need God’s guidance to ensure that we are living our lives to the full amid all the challenges, difficulties and opportunities of life. Giving in to the world’s pressures will only end in disaster. Day by day, we need to let God remould our minds from within.

Question In what particular ways has God transformed your thinking recently?

Prayer Loving Father, thank you that your Holy Spirit is constantly at work in my life, helping me to think in ways that will glorify you. Amen

Romans 12:1

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. We use the word worship in a wide variety of ways. Sometimes we use it to refer to a church service, and at other times we use it for a part of the service which is called “a time of worship”, normally consisting of prayers and singing. Here, Paul is using the word in a much bigger way. He is talking about us giving our whole lives to God as an act of worship, and he suggests that this is the only fitting response to a God who has done everything for us. Paul has absolutely no thought that we could worship God for a while and then get on with our own life, as if we could divide up life into different compartments. Our whole life needs to be focused on worshipping God. Paul invited the Christians in Rome to offer their worship to God as a living and holy sacrifice. With Jesus’ death on the cross, the ultimate sacrifice had been made, so there would be no need for the old sacrificial system. However, Jesus made it clear that those who followed him would need to sacrifice their lives. It is unambiguous language. Jesus said to his disciples: “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it” (Matthew 16:25). Jesus calls us to give up the whole of our lives to him because he wants to transform and bless every part of them. This means that our time working, playing sport, travelling, relaxing with the family and shopping are acts of worship just as much as our times praising God with our Christian brothers and sisters. God wants every aspect of our lives to be touched by his presence.

Question In what ways is worship important to you?

Prayer Lord God, I thank you for your amazing generosity to me. Help me to place the whole of this day into your hands so that you can bless everything I say and do. Amen