Romans 12:1 (ESV)
¹ I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

This powerful verse is based on God’s overall plan for man.  Paul appeals to Christians to give their bodies to God.  Why? Because our bodies are important to God.  They serve as a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:16 (ESV)
¹⁶ Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.”

God is going to raise our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:13-14) and change them into glorious ones.

Philippians 3:21 (ESV)
²¹ Who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

This is in harmony with what John wrote in 1 John 3:2.

1 John 3:2 (ESV)
² Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him…

The importance of our bodies and God’s plan for them in the future gives us two reasons for giving them to Him now as living sacrifices.  But how do we give our bodies to God?  We do so by using them properly.  Paul tells us how to do that in the sixth chapter of Romans.

Romans 6:12–13 (ESV)
¹² Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.  ¹³ Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

While we all occasionally sin (Romans 3:21), we do not have to allow sin to dwell in us.  The word “reign” here means to rule.  Do you allow sin to rule over you by letting it become a continual practice?  Have you become a servant to sin?  If so, you have not given your body to God.  When we give our bodies to God, it is demonstrated by our lives, that is, by using our members as instruments of righteousness rather than unrighteousness.

The language of Paul in Romans 12:1 reminds us that sin is a choice.  It is not something we are forced to do. Sin can only dominate us if we let it, at least initially.  For example, a person might become addicted to a drug and find himself in a position where he cannot stop doing the drug without some outside help, but it is still the case that the initial use of the drug was a personal decision, just like any other sin.

James 1:14–15 (ESV)
¹⁴ But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.  ¹⁵ Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin…

Sin is a product of one’s personal desire. Why did Jesus never sin?  It was because he desired to please God, so He chose not to sin.

Present your body to God as a living sacrifice.  Paul once said that Christ would be magnified in his body (Philippians 1:20).  Let’s all determine to do that same thing.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.