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Romans 6:12-14

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 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. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

 

Sin has no right to reign like a king over your body because you no longer belong to the kingdom of death. Even though at this point your body is still mortal, your spirit is alive with the resurrection power of Jesus, and one day your body will also be resurrected and rendered immortal. Your body and mine have passions that are contrary to what we know the will of God is for us. We refuse to take the forbidden fruit that appeals to our sinful desires. We have the power to say no because of the Spirit of God in us. We don’t have to obey our sinful passions. We don’t.

We are going to take what we continually judge to be true—that we are dead to sin’s dominion and alive to the kingdom of God—and refuse to use any part of our body to serve sin. Instead we offer every part of our body to the Lord as an instrument of doing right, a tool to display the goodness of God, a vehicle of bringing praise to God.

My Mouth

Tongue, teeth, lips—I refuse to use it to curse or use vulgarities, to tear down other people (bite and devour), to slander, to gossip, to lie, to share impure thoughts, to mock what is holy and good, to belittle others, to boast in myself. To use my mouth this way is to advance the cause of the enemy, the brutal kingdom I’ve been rescued from.

Instead, I present my mouth to the Lord for His service and His glory. I will use it to express gratitude to Him and others, I will use it to give praise, I will use it to speak words of love and kindness, I will use it to encourage and build up others, I will use it to spread truth, I will use it to show grace and honor to others. I want a river of life, love, and light to flow from my heart through my mouth to the people around me.

My Eyes

I will not look in order to lust after and covet what I do not have, do not need, and do not have the right to possess. I will not look away from people in need. I will not close my eyes to the plight of the poor or to the abuse of the vulnerable. I will not close my eyes to wickedness I can help correct. I will not feast my eyes on what is poison to my soul. I will not use them to stare at the one who suffers, to flash anger and hatred, to scoff.

I will use my eyes to behold God’s handiwork all around me. I will use my eyes to express concern and love and joy. I will use my eyes to read and meditate on God’s Word. I will use my eyes to search for ways to help. I will use my eyes to look for the right path.

My Ears

I refuse to listen to gossip, I will not listen to false teachers, I refuse to listen to what seduces me toward evil or fills my heart with lust, anger, hatred, or pride.

Instead, I will listen to what I know is absolutely true, God’s Word; I will listen to what is of good report; I will listen for the cry of the one who needs help; I will listen for the voice of wisdom.

My Hands

I refuse to use them to harm people, to abuse them in any way, to touch what I should not touch, to reach for what is not mine to take, to gesture in a way that shows hatred instead of love. I refuse to give them to lazy inactivity. I refuse to shove them in my pockets when I should be helping someone in need. I refuse to clutch my money and belongings close to myself as if God has no claim on them and other people have no need for them. I will not use them to stiff-arm those I need to welcome and embrace.

I will instead use my hands to lift up the fallen, to mend the broken, to share with the needy, to give to God. I will lift my hands in prayer and in praise. I will point the way to the person who has lost his or her way. I will pull my share of the load. I will join hands with my brothers and sisters in Christ to do the work of the kingdom. I will point people to Jesus. I will embrace others with the love of Christ.

My Feet

I will not pursue evil. I will avoid the path that leads people astray. I will not follow after false teachers. I will not go where I have no business being. I will not stray from my home to engage in immorality. I will not prop my feet up when I need to be heading out to work the fields. I will not kick people when they’re down. I will not trip up people to make them fall.

Instead, I will follow Jesus wherever He leads me. I will go into the streets and byways to lead people to Him. I will cross the street. I will cross the globe. I will leave behind the old places and the old paths that trapped me in sin. I will be where I ought to be on the Lord’s Day and every day. God gave me feet to get me wherever I should be. And He is with me all the days of this journey, even to the consummation of the age.

What would happen to your typical day and mine if we started each day refusing to let sin have a say on how we use any part of our bodies? If we started each day presenting every part of our body as an instrument for God to use for His glory and for the good of others?

Is there really any reason you could not do so? I can’t think of why I wouldn’t want to start every day I have on earth this way. Giving myself—every part of me—to the service of the King of Grace who has rescued me from the tyrannical kingdom of sin and death.

The law could not free you this way. It only made your slavery worse. God’s free gift of righteousness and life has broken the prison bars. His grace has opened a completely new life for you. Live free!