i am an offering

Do you have an accurate picture of who you are and your abilities? Do you think you are the absolute best at something and no one can do it better? This is something that we will struggle with as Christians. We are naturally bent towards pride. Thankfully, though, when we trust and obey the Holy Spirit, we now have the ability to join in His nature and join in the fight against pride. It’s not an easy task, but we fight every day.

Worshiping God by Having a Correct Understanding of our Gifts

Part of learning to worship God is learning that God has stamped His nature on us through the Holy Spirit and beginning to realize when we do things that are contrary to His nature. How do we join in God’s nature, being able to fight our natural tendency for pride? Paul shares this in Romans 12:

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.” Romans 12:3-5

My Struggle

It’s interesting that I have been enjoying and living by verses one and two of this chapter but never really thought about these verses until recently. I’ve come to examine my heart and really think about the fact that yes, I might be a little prideful at times. It has required a shift in my thinking, constant dependence on God, and prayer for forgiveness and grace every time I realize that I’m being prideful.

How about you? Are you cultivating a heart of humility, thinking of yourself “with sober judgment” and putting others first? Let’s take the journey together.

The more I study the subject of worship within the Bible and how God made things right through Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross the more I am completely blown away at how it all works. I am blown away at the privilege we get now to actually be the sacrifices that God now desires; living sacrfices. (Romans 12:1)

But what happens when we fail? And fail we do. Over and over and over. We are called to “continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God” (Hebrews 13:15) to present our bodies as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1) and to “offer spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5) But how do we succeed in the task of doing these things we have been called to?

The simple answer is this: we can’t succeed. It is hopless for us. No matter how hard we try, we won’t make it. The longer answer and the one that gives us victory is found in that small phrase in 1 Peter 2:5 that we might skip over sometimes: “acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

If you are feeling like your offering isn’t good enough, you’re right! But the comfort comes in this. Because of the Blood of Jesus Christ, our sinful offering becomes not only acceptable but perfected before God! Perfected! Hebrews 10:14 says,

For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”

Yes, our lives are sinful and will never measure up to God’s standard, but because of Jesus’ perfect blood becoming the perfect sacrifice for us, He now perfects all of our sacrifices that we are called to make to God! What victory that brings us! Does this give us license to sin and just take for granted that perfect sacrifice? Absolutely not. The rest of Hebrews 10 gives some strong warnings against this. But we have the confidence and ability to know that when we do fail in the midst of pursuing holy lives, Jesus is always there for us before the Father, pleading for us to the Father that His blood makes us completely and absolutely clean.