Episode 6 - The First Step Towards Enjoying the Christian Walk - Have you dedicated yourself to God? Learn how to do it and 3 reasons every Christian should.
Part 1 of Enjoying The Christian Walk and Living Without Regret
(Romans 12:1 – Dedicating Ourselves To God) Do you enjoy being a Christian? I hope so. If you are a Christian, but don’t enjoy the Christian walk – it doesn’t have to be this way. There is something you can do about it. Today, I want to begin sharing with you 3 steps you can take and one habit you can build. The first step is ‘Embracing the Attitude of Dedicating Our Body to God’. This first step is a great place for Christians to start if they want to get on the path to enjoying the Christian walk.
John [10:10] ESV [10] The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
I enjoy being a Christian. I’m not saying that I don’t face challenges, temptations and sometime discouragement – but Christ has proved to be more than enough to overcome these in my life.
As I look back over my Christian life – there are three particular things that stand out for me that have helped me to enjoy the Christian walk. And today, I wanted to pass them on to you.
We are going to begin looking at 3 important things that we can do that can make a big difference in whether we enjoy the Christian life, or struggle through it.
And then, I want to share with you about living without regret. Now, I’m not talking about not ever having any regrets in life. We all can think of things we wished we had done differently – especially when it comes to living the Christian life.
What I’m talking about is having periods in my life where I can see that I’m having victory of sin. Days and weeks where we can think of particular areas where we may have struggled before, but now we are seeing victory – no regrets.
Eventually these periods can turn into months and then years.
I’m talking about periods in our lives when you and I are enjoying the Christian walk and living without regrets.
We’re also going to look at 1 habit that can make a big difference – a good habit that can help us to avoid having more regrets in our Christian living.
So let’s get started: Romans 12:1
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.
Some translations use the word service. It’s the same idea that this is the way that we can worship God, is to offer our body to Him.
The 1st Step is: Embracing the Attitude that our body is dedicated to God
Because of God’s great mercy, we are compelled to offer ourselves to Him as a way of worship – to offer our bodies to God for service.
Every Christian should have a time in their life when they take this important step of presenting their body to God. It means to offer your body, to dedicate your body to God for His service.
If your wondering, ‘How is this going to help me enjoy the Christian walk …..
There are 3 reasons – but first …
2 Corinthians [5:17] ESV [17] Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
If we have truly become Christians …
You and I have become new people in Christ.
Here are 3 Reasons that
“Embracing the attitude that your body is dedicated to God”
will help you to enjoy the Christian walk more:
1. It’s what the ‘New You’ really wants to do.
Do you remember the attitude you had when ……?
When we became ‘in Christ’ we became a new creation. We have become a new person.
If the new you really wants to worship God with your life, but you choose to worship yourself with your body – being consumed with serving yourself – naturally there is going to be frustration – because on the inside you want to serve God, but in the outside you are serving yourself.
Think about want you really like to do. Maybe you love to do art work. It’s who you are.
Or maybe you love the outdoors. You just love going camping or hiking in the woods.
Well, what if you were never allowed to art, or you were never had the opportunity to go in the woods. You would be frustrated because your life on the outside was not able to match who you really are on the inside.
The new person that we have become on the inside is so full of gratitude because of the great mercies of God in saving our soul, this new person inside will not be content living in a body that is devoted to living for ourselves.
Our inner person wants to worship God.
When our bodies are being dedicated to serving ourselves instead of God, we aren’t going to be happy in the long term – not if we have truly been made new.
When our body is dedicated to God, it’s like matching up the outside with who we really are on the inside. Instead of focusing on pleasing ourselves with our bodies, we are focused on pleasing God.
That fact is, dedicating your body to God is what the new you really wants to do. Instead of wanting to worship yourself, the new person that you have become in Christ desires only to worship God.
Now, if we have truly become a Christian, if we have really become a new person – and we choose to have the attitude that our bodies belong to us and serve ourselves – then it’s only natural that our Christian walk is going to be frustrating because the outside is not matching the new person we have become on the inside.
So, this is one of the main reasons that dedicating our bodies to God will enable us to enjoy our Christian walk.
Embracing the attitude that our bodies belong to God will help to take away frustration because this is the kind of attitude that the new person you have become really wants to have.
It’s the only way you will really be happy has a Christian.
2. It’s what the ‘New You’ believes is the right thing to do.
This is what the New You really believes is right.
There is one person worthy of worship – God. This is what the New You really believes.
If we don’t have the attitude that our body is dedicated to God, instead, thinking that we are worthy of worship, we are heading down the wrong path – and it’s a dangerousness path to go down.
1 John [2:19] ESV [19] They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
A person who continues down this path reveals the truth about themselves.
The person who continues through life with an attitude that their body belongs to God will enjoy a confidence that they truly have become a new person in Christ.
Having the attitude that my body is dedicated to God will help me to be confident about my faith – because I will be able to see God working in my life – evidence that I belong to Him.
The non-Christian doesn’t have this attitude.
The fact is, having the attitude that our bodies belong to God
is proof that worshiping God is really what we believe.
When you see God helping you to grow – helping you to live out your dedication Him …
Dedicating our bodies to God is evidence that we have really been changed by Christ.
Dedicating yourself to God is what the New You really wants to do, and helps to take away frustration in the Christian walk.
Dedicating yourself to God is what the New You really believes is the right thing to do, and helps to have confidence in life that you have truly been changed.
But there is a 3rd reason that embracing this kind of attitude will help the Christian enjoy the new walk.
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.
Sacrifice – reminds us that we are offering our bodies for whatever God wants
Holy – you have designated you bodies to be devoted to God
Acceptable – well pleasing to Him
Worship – this offering is for His service – for God to use
3. It’s the way that the ‘New You’ communicates to God that you want to be used by Him.
Imagine yourself coming before God – laying at His feet, offering yourself to Him – this obviously says to God ‘I am yours – do with me as you will.’
If you want to be used by God this is the way to let Him know.
When you live out this kind of attitude, God will see your desire to be used by Him.
He will see it in the way you treat your family members.
He will see it in the way you are selective about your entertainment choices and where you go on the internet.
God sees the dedication of your mouths to Him in the way that we communicate to people – in the way we say things – whether we are kind or harsh.
God sees the dedication of our hands and feet in how we choose to honor Him with what we do and where we go.
God sees what we think on – He sees the dedication of our minds.
And here is what we need to understand:
The dedication of our body to God speaks to God’s heart. It communicates whether or not we are offering ourselves to be used by Him.
It’s the way the New You let’s God know that you really want to be used.
When God sees your behavior changed He knows that you have given your life to Him – for His service.
It’s one way the New You communicates with God that you want to be used by Him.
How does this contribute to enjoying the Christian life?
Being used by God is what the new person in us really wants.
We find our value in belonging to God and in being used by God.
If you want to be used by God this is the way to get started. First, let God know that you are His to use.
Embracing the attitude that our bodies are dedicated to God can take away the frustration on the inside, it can give you confidence that you belong to God and it can let God know that you want to be used by Him.
I have a question for you:
Has there been a first time when you dedicated your body to God.
If you have, then embrace the attitude that represents who you really are!
This will help you to enjoy the Christian walk. You can see frustration be replaced with confidence. And, by your actions, you’ll be letting God know that you are His to use.
But maybe you have become a Christian and there has never been a time in your life when you dedicated your body to God. Don’t put this off.
Offer to God your hands and feet, your mouth and eyes – your mind.
This is important in the Christian life.
Find a place and a time. Give this moment the respect it deserves. Remove the distractions. Get alone with God. And poor out your heart to Him.