Silence: Find a quiet place, remove potential distractions, clear your mind of other thoughts, and ask God to speak to you as you read and contemplate this passage:

Reflective Reading: Read Romans 12:1-8 thoughtfully:

A Living Sacrifice

1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Humble Service in the Body of Christ

3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Meditation: Reflect on this portion of Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians – you may want to read this whole chapter, as it is generally thought of as one of the best summaries of Christian duties found in scripture. What is God speaking to you through this passage? What is the challenge that Paul outlines, regarding a believer’s attitude?

Oration: From your reading and prayer, verbalize or write in the space below your response to what God is speaking to you from this passage:

Contemplation: Over the next day, contemplate this passage and what God is saying to you. Think on these topics:

• This passage contains some strong words about our attitude(s) – do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, encourage, generously, diligently, cheerfully, etc. How would you describe your attitude in the work that you do at First Baptist? Do these verbs/adverbs describe you?
• Does attitude affect outcome?
• If your love of Jesus were measured by your degree of encouragement or generosity or diligence or cheerfulness, how do you measure?
• What actions might this passage be directing you to begin?