By the mercy of God present your bodies a living sacrifice. It’s a living sacrifice. We’re not killing ourselves, although we read in Romans 8 how Paul describes them as being killed all day. He knew what it meant to lay down his life for others. He knew what it meant to live like Jesus.

We can be living sacrifices only by the mercy of God. It’s His gift to us that we can live and love like Jesus and lay down our lives.

Our command is to love others, but I would say we lay down our lives for Christ. He gave His life for us. We give our life for Him. It will look like laying down your life for others, dying to self, putting others first. But remember it’s for Christ, so that you don’t mind doing it. Because they won’t necessarily recognize your sacrifice for them. They may walk all over you while you are laying your life down for them. They may resent what you are doing for them. So while we are commanded to love others and we want to do that, know that it’s for Christ you lay your life down, for whom you sacrifice. You love others because you love Jesus, and so want to obey and please Him and the Father.

The ESV calls this living sacrifice your spiritual worship, with a little footnote. The word is reasonable or rational. It is completely rational to lay down your life. It’s the reasonable thing to do. If the God of the universe laid down His life for you and calls you to imitate in His love for others, it’s the right thing to do.

The world may call it crazy, such selfless love that expects nothing in return, but we’re not to be conformed to this world. We’re to become new creations. We have new life in Christ. We enter in at once and bit by bit as we renew our mind. We continually say yes to Christ and no to self.

All those thoughts of the wrong way, the old way of life are TEMPTATIONS to doubt your salvation and new life in Christ. Say no. Say, “That’s not who I am any longer. That’s not what I want. I choose Jesus.” And you will walk in the will of God, in what is good and perfect.