Romans 12:1-2
I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Sanctification is a difficult process. If you’re pursuing the Father like you should be, it’s often painful. When God created man, He created him in His own image. Accompanied by the fall, however, came the loss of humanity’s perfect reflection of its Father. We have been mired by the ugliness of sin, a trait which our holy God cannot posses.
If it wasn’t for the sacrifice of Jesus’ death on the cross, all of humanity would forever fall short of reaching the glory of God. To now posses this ability to grow closer to the Father through Christ, but to fail to make it a priority in your life, is a mistake you can’t afford to make. As you know, our purpose is to bring glory to the Father; Paul reminds us that this is exactly what we are doing when present our bodies to God as a “living sacrifice”. When you and I worship the Father through our actions, it brings glory to His name. We are to actively pursue this “service” to God at a higher level “tomorrow” than we did “today.” Often, your acts of obedience will come with the detriment of selfishness… again, this will hurt… but it’s a sacrifice you must purposely continue to make.
Jesus sums up the process of sanctification with three simple commands in Luke 9:23. “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him (1) deny himself, and (2) take up his cross daily, and (3) follow Me.” Did you notice the last requisite of following Christ? You must actually make it a point to follow Him!