Romans 12:1–5  Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. ² Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. ³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. ⁴ Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Some of us remember when the Army recruitment slogan was “Be all that you can be.” The commercials pictured a life of adventure and promised they would have the training and skills necessary to succeed in life. Another promise was that those in the Armed Forces would learn how to be a part of a team, all working together. All you had to do was enlist. There was a commitment on your part, but those were some significant promises.

Paul reminds us that God has made even better promises to His people. He encourages the followers of Jesus to “Be all that you can be.” We are to think of ourselves in terms of our faith, what we have become through the cleansing that Jesus provided for us. He died to enable us to be forgiven. He earned our entry into life everlasting and gives it to us as a gift. Life is an exciting adventure for us, even if we don’t always see it that way. We know that we have a Savior and we await a far better existence with Him in heaven. Until then, we live by faith, knowing that Jesus does all the giving and we do all the receiving. He even gives us the guidance we need to make our way through this life.

One of the best things God does for us is to remind us that we are part of a team, His team, the body of Christ. We all have different skills and abilities that we are to use for the glory of God. Just as a body is healthy, able and strong only when all the parts of the body work together, so it is with the body of Christ, the church here on earth. We need to work together, each doing his or her part. We need to be concerned for the other members of our body. At the same time, we will offer help to those who need it, comfort to the bruised or injured, the stronger parts helping the weaker ones.

This is a beautiful picture of how we should be working together for Jesus, who gave His all so that we could be forgiven and restored and redeemed. Be all that you can be.