COMMIT TO A LIFESTYLE
OF WORSHIP AND HOLY ACTIONS

1) Become a living sacrifice.

Romans 12:1

(Romans 12:1 NLT)  And so, dear Christian friends, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?

Paul encourages and commands us to present our bodies as living sacrifices so that we will be available to do what God’s wants us to do. We are HIS, and every aspect of our lives should reflect that.

What is a sacrifice? In the Old Testament, the priests would offer a sacrificial lamb to God... they would kill it. We need to KILL ourselves and our old nature and turn completely to God.  To sacrifice something means to give it completely away. It’s no longer yours. You need to present yourself as a sacrifice completely to God. Then He will be able to use you.

Romans 6:13

(Romans 6:13 NLT)  Do not let any part of your body become a tool of wickedness, to be used for sinning. Instead, give yourselves completely to God since you have been given new life. And use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God.

God wants us to live a holy lifestyle so that when people look at us, they say, "WOW! You look just like Jesus!"

Worldy habits.

"Lord, use my life while I’m still here to show this world what You really look like!"

What are some ways you can present yourself as a "living sacrifice?"

2) For the glory of God.

Colossians 3:17

(Colossians 3:17 NIV)  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Everything we do... everything... needs to reflect God.

• talk
• act
• tv we watch
• music we listen to

1 Corinthians 10:31

(1 Corinthians 10:31 NLT)  Whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, you must do all for the glory of God.

God is watching you. Not just when you’re at church, or on a mission trip or when you’re on a youth activity... but all the time.

God wants you to be a mirror. The world should see Him in you. Once you decide this is something you want, you need to spend time with Him and in His presence.

Psalm 22:3 says that God inhabits our praise, so if you want God to hang out with you all day long, praise Him all day long.  Live a life of worship.

And when you’re praising and worshiping God all day, whenever something comes along that isn’t right that you should flee from, you know right away because God’s right there with you... He can’t hang out where sin is, and likewise, demons aren’t too likely to hang around you if God Almighty is there with you.

The most awesome thing about the Christian life is that as you stay holy and pure, God opens more and more of Himself up to you. Things start to happen that benefit you.

3) No vile thing.

Psalm 101:3

(Psalms 101:3 NIV)  I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me.

David is saying here, "I’m not going to put anything in front of me that’s not of God." Period.

The commitment of the WorldChanger is, "I refuse to even accidentally allow any vile, disgusting thing in my life." This includes drugs, alcohol, immorality, perversion, cruddy TV, movies, music, magazines... anything that leads to a sinful lifestyle or a sinful way of thinking.

4) Make a radical commitment.

1 Corinthians 10:23

(1 Corinthians 10:23 NIV)  "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is constructive.

By grace, we have freedom... technically we are no longer under the law, and therefore not bound by it. But grace doesn’t mean we can do whatever we want because "everything is permissible."  We have free will, but that does not give us LICENSE.

"Well, this movie only has one bad scene in it."

As a Christian who wants to change the world, you need to say, "Yeah, I probably could do that, but there is some stuff I don’t want inside me at all because it’s not beneficial and it’s not going to help me grow or change the world."

Galatians 5:13

(Galatians 5:13 NIV)  You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature ; rather, serve one another in love.

If you use your freedom as a Christian to sin, you will find yourselve a slave to the very sin that Christ set you free from to begin with.

You may need to make some RADICAL COMMITMENTS.

You may need to commit to stop seeing PG-13 or R movies.

You may need to commit to stop listening to all secular music.

5) No idols.

What is an idol? Anything you love more than God.

It could be a person, a sport, your TV, anything. It could be your feelings... a person in love with being in love... always looking for a boyfriend or girlfriend instead of chasing after God.

You spend time with the things you love.

Sports, Movies, Friends, TV, Music, Clubs, etc...

What are you spending time and energy on? God? or others?

When you find an idol in your life, you need to do what Moses did when the Israelites built the Golden Calf...

Tell Story of Golden Calf

Exodus 32:20

(Exodus 32:20 NIV)  And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.

WHOA! That was drastic! But what Moses was saying was, "I’m going to so thoroughly obliterate this idol so that you will never have a chance worship the vile thing again." When you find an idol in your life... GET RID OF IT!

In your life, it could mean destroying and throwing away your secular CDs, or getting rid of materialistic thinking. It could mean ending a friendship or a dating relationship.  You need to get rid of an idol so that you could never worship it again. I know it sounds drastic, but if you’re serious about changing the world, it’s a small price to pay for God’s undivided attention.

6) Value of a worshipful lifestyle.

Why is this so important? Because everything I’ve been talking about is like bowing down before the throne of God and acknowledging his awesomeness.

The only way God allows you before His throne is for you to remove all the junk from your life. You don’t have to be perfect, but you do have to be humble and admit that to the Lord where
you’ve blown it and then do everything possible to get rid of the idols.

7) A higher standard.

What should you do?

 

"Practically speaking, how do I apply this to my life?"

Begin to look at your habits -- the way you talk, act, the way you use your spare time, the way you think -- all are important.  Now look at yourself and ask yourself how you compare to Scripture. How your lifestyle and the things that you do compare to the world of God.

As a WorldChanger, you are going to have to say NO to some things that other people, maybe even other Christians, will say YES to.

Your seriousness as a WorldChanger demand a higher level of living and caliber of intensity. You DON’T do what comes naturally; you measure everything by the Word of God.  Are you ready to make a commitment... a radical commitment to God to examine your life -- examine the way you live, act, talk, the movies you watch, the tv you watch, the music you listen to -- and to make sure it all lines up with God?

Are you ready to commit to a holy lifestyle?

ALTAR CALL.

By Aaron C. Paulley, based on WorldChangers 2000 by Ron Luce.

Return to TOP
Professional Web Site Design by SunStar Media.