I prayed for a fresh perspective of this familiar passage, and God gave it to me while watching the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. The phrase offer your bodies as a living sacrifice seemed to be reflected in each event. I watched as stones were carefully guided by quickly brushing the ice, speeds over 80mph were reached on mountains and ice, players forcibly collided on ice, and many twisted, jumped, and flipped in events. These Olympians are elite athletes whose bodies are in superb physical and mental condition, but who also sacrifice many things in their life to compete. I watched some kiss the ice in joy and others who had to be airlifted off a mountain because they literally sacrificed their bodies.

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I asked some ACF athletes who participate in some of these same sports, “What part of your body needs to be strongest and/or fittest for your sport?” Our local curler replied that balance, legs, the mind, and eyes are vital.  The hockey player told me that the thighs, legs, core, and arm muscles are all important, but the most important muscle is the brain along with knowledge of the game. A skier said that strong quads, hamstrings, and glutes are important, along with control and technique. One of these athletes wrote that being able to see the game in a different light or understanding is what separates the elite from the good.

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Do you see the common threads in these answers?  They did not identify just one muscle, and they all included the mind. Our body must be more than just our physical body! Could it be our body, soul, and mind that we need to offer to God in worship? Our actions, words, and thoughts?  Offer your bodies is our whole life! God wants all my health, my fitness, my eating, my sleeping, my relationships, my working, my fun and my …….! And my worship! I cannot focus on just one part. God wants it all.

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How does adding as a living sacrifice affect my worship? In the Bible, sacrifice generally refers to giving up something valuable for the sake of God and others. To sacrifice, I need to have some knowledge of God to know what He values. He does not value me living in my flesh, like Rom 8:6 explains, because it separates me from Him. Phil 2:13 says that God does value me worshiping Him with my whole life by surrendering my desires and ambitions to be obedient to His will. In Gal 5:13, He values me sacrificially loving and serving others. Sacrifice without love is empty! Sacrifice motivated by love is true sacrifice. By being a living sacrificing and loving God, we get to know Him and what He values.

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What happens when I give my whole life as a living sacrifice to God? I truly worship Him by giving Him my every breath. God wants and deserves my worship. He gave us unimaginable mercy by sending His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins, who then overcame death and rose back to life. He paid the price of our death due to sin, in exchange for eternal life with Him. This is superior to a gold medal. Worship comes in many forms, and I honor God by acknowledging His gift and His holiness. Envision how athletes celebrate a medal, then, with that enthusiasm, give your worship to God in prayer, singing, and sacrificial living. Sacrificing my whole life in worship to God is the ultimate Olympic event!

I have never aspired to be an elite athlete or Olympian, but I do admire their dedication to and sacrifice for their sport. I watched many Olympians give their all for their sport during this year’s games. What if each of us gave that same dedication and sacrifice of our whole body as a living sacrifice for God? To loosely quote an ACF athlete: “We would see the world in a different light”! We would spread love and serve others. The world would notice how radically different this is from self-focus.  

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Let’s give our ALL to worship God. He gave His ALL through Jesus.  

• I invite you to take a few moments to meditate on offering your whole body in worship to God. What parts of your life are you holding back?  

• Take a few moments to meditate on how you can be a living sacrifice. What will you sacrifice?  

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Abba, I pray that each of us ponders the questions above so we can offer our whole body as a living sacrifice to worship You. We can spread Your Light when we worship! I love You, Abba.