And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.

1 Peter 2:5 NLT

You are a living stone. In the previous verse, Peter said Jesus is a living stone. You are being compared to Jesus! Wow!

You are being built into a spiritual temple. The architect and builder are none other than God himself! He promises to complete the project.

You are a holy priest. As a priest, you get to offer spiritual sacrifices to God. These sacrifices please God!

Does any of this knock your socks off? This is exciting stuff!

Sacrificing is giving up something precious to God. I compiled a list of a few spiritual sacrifices given in scripture. All of these involve giving our time which is a precious commodity to most of us.

Praise

So through Jesus let us always offer our sacrifice to God. This sacrifice is our praise, coming from lips that speak his name (Hebrews 13:15 ICB).

Prayers

These bowls of incense [in heaven] are the prayers of God’s holy people (Revelation 5:8 ICB).

Thanksgiving

And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy (Psalm 107:22 ESV).

Serving and Sharing

Do not forget to do good to others. And share with them what you have. These are the sacrifices that please God (Hebrews 13:16 ICB).

Our bodies

Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (Romans 12:1 ESV).

Our wills

The sacrifice God wants is a willing spirit. God, you will not reject a heart that is broken and sorry for its sin (Psalm 51:17 ICB).

Heavenly Father, we are privileged to be your holy priests. We offer our prayers, our time, our labor and ourselves to you. We are excited to honor you and please you.

Terri