SINGLE SEASON: A living sacrifice

” Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform 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.”Romans 12:1-2

This is no new scripture to many singles.

But the problem is in how we live out the scripture. Sure you read our previous post  on the battle with negative societal pressure. You can read about it  (Here) .  This is a prelude to what I have to talk about today.

I know a girl whose desire above everything else was to do what was right in God’s eyes, to keep the scriptures as the standard of her life. However, this was hard as to most people, it is the archaic or old fashioned way of life. Her will was to focus on her studies in her university days while her friends spent their nights with their boy friends, clubbing, etc. They often laughed at her, saying she will get her experience in menopause. Others said before every girl enters marriage, she must have learned certain things in relationships like how to give her husband sex and so on.  This for a moment just kept her wondering about so many things, and she really did not know what was the right thing to do anymore.

So in her third year at the university, she started dating and yes she set the boundaries for this relationship. Her main value was no sex before marriage. The boy she was dating respected her a lot and that was great. Though she found herself being tempted to get into all the kissing and caressing, she knew at the back of her mind that it should not go down to full sex. One day she read the scripture above and it rang a bell in her head. Then she realized that sex is the end of the act but besides that, what was she doing with her body? How was she going to tell her boy friend that in as much as he respected the boundary of not going down into sex, she wanted to live her entire body as a living sacrifice, so she did not want even the kissing and caressing which gave her sexual anxiety, though she was never going to go down fully? This was hard.

The good news is she spoke to a friend, who helped her walk through it. Even though her friend had been involved in a sexual relationship, she clearly told her the truth about how she felt the first time she had sex and a couple of times after, and how it dealt with her, even when she tried to quit. She told her the encounters she had with spirits who appeared to be having sex with her in her dream and when she got up from those dreams, she felt like it happened in real life, till she went for deliverance. So her advice to this young girl was to uphold what she believed before and that no matter what others tell her, she should stand firm with what she believes because there is more gain than five minutes of pleasure which leaves you in freight for a long time. Every time your period delays, you can’t sleep with the feeling of whether or not you are pregnant. You can’t lift up your hands in worship because you feel guilty, etc. There is a lot to be shared about this story but the part that struck my attention when I heard this story, is the advice this lady’s friend gave her on how to overcome the temptation if she truly wants to offer her live as a living sacrifice, which I will share with you below.

How to offer your life as a living sacrifice (overcoming the temptation of premarital Sexual acts)

1. Keep the right friends (accountability partners):This means watch who you seek advise from, who you admire and who you associate with. Make sure they are a positive influence in your life and can open up to you about their weaknesses just as the friend in the narrative above did.  “Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm”Proverbs 13:2. 
2. Do not be unequally yoked(2 Cor 6:14): This Scripture has a lot of different interpretations but my simple interpretation is that you cannot want to be an eagle and live among chickens. If you want to uphold the word of God as the standard of your life, it should be a mutual effort between you and the person you date. These are the preliminaries you should get right before entering a relationship with him or her. So it will be easy to agree on the values you uphold.
3. Get busy:  It is very easy to fall into temptation when you are idle and when all you do is think about hanging out with your boyfriend/girlfriend. If both of you really love each other, commit to self development together and serving God together. I can personally testify that getting busy has kept me from a lot of traps. To be busy, you can join a choir, volunteer with organizations, attend conferences, training, join a small group where you study books, exchange ideas, organize programs, etc. There are many ways to get busy especially if you are in University. There are many extra curricular activities you can be engaged in that will keep your mind busy. Engage in them with your partner. ^“Idle hands are the devil’s workshop; idle lips are his mouthpiece”Proverbs 16:27.
4. Avoid spending so much time alone: If you are in a relationship, try all you can to avoid being in compromising situations where out of love and romantic feelings, you just want to do certain things. Both of you should spend quality time together, but in public places where because of public morals and policy, its difficult to get very intimate e.g at a park, cinema, take nice long walks, talking real issues, etc.
5. Seek God: You just need to go to God and tell Him your intentions and trust Him to help you to bring glory to His name. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”Proverbs 3:5-6.
6. Seek Godly counsel: As you seek God, look out for the people He has placed in your path who can guide you. Once you have someone you look up to and who equally has an eye on you, you will be careful about what you do.  “Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in abundance of counselors there is victory.” Proverbs 11:14My final word is to a reader who has fallen into the temptation of violating your body. Dear friend, its not too late. Don’t think your sin is more because His Grace is sufficient. When you think your case is special, He has Special Grace for Special cases. All you need to do is to come as you are. You can start by saying “Lord Jesus, I acknowledge I have sinned against you and against my body, I am not worthy to stand in your presence, but I know you died on the cross for me. I don’t want to live like this anymore. I want to offer my body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to you, so that I can find purpose in my single season and enjoy the joy of marriage, to the glory of your most holy name. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, AMEN.”

Congratulations dear friend, you are a new person for God does not keep a record of your sins. We will like you to send us an email or just indicate in the comment section if you made this prayer and we will reach out to you with materials to help you through your journey of becoming a living sacrifice.

Stay blessed.