Spiritual Directions

St. Paul is calling us to offer our bodies as a holy and living sacrifice to God (Romans 12:1). What does that mean? Does that say we give ourselves up to a Holy Life? How would you define a Holy Life? Do we stop doing all that we are doing and live a saintly life? Does that mean we must relinquish everything? How different will this life be from our ordinary lives? What is good Christian etiquette?

Today my son was half hour late coming home from school. The reason he gave was they had a new bus driver, who had a wrong set of directions. He did not turn into the road to our apartment community where we lived. As the group of 20 kids passed their customary turn, they started to wail that they missed their stop. Eventually the driver realized his error and brought them home.

The ordinary way for most Christians maybe compared to a much longer journey to our Heavenly Home. Where should we make our turns? When should we make our stops? Finding our way back when we get lost. We are usually never traveling alone. We have family, friends and others coming along as well. People and places may change but the directions have been clearly spelled out to us. But if they are read wrongly, if the directions are forgotten, we board the wrong bus, or get a poor guide we may head in the wrong direction.

Fostering the growth of spiritual gifts and setting of good Christian standards will help us in our journey. St. Paul in Romans 12 helps us identify some of the spiritual gifts that come to us through the working of the Holy Spirit and gives us some practical insights on instructions for our journey through life on earth. St. Paul is encouraging us to offer our lives, gifts, talents and resources to God as our sacrifice. God will use them in our everyday life to help strengthen His children and bring glory to His name.