Saint Paul urges us to offer our bodies, our whole human life, as a sacrifice to God. The reason to do so is the mercy of God. The Greek ‘tōn oiktirmōn’ is plural and the term is usually translated as compassion, however, in the sense of ‘concerns shown over the misfortune of others.’ Paul refers to the multiple instances of the Lord’s concerns over the misfortune we ran into. In other words, God constantly works for our benefit seeing the misfortunes we struggle with.
This should slow us down and make us ponder His closeness to us. His knowledge of our struggles. Misfortune. Often, we think God is far away and he does not care about me. He knows, however, exactly where you are at; your struggles, the greatest dangers and misfortunes you may fall into, or you already did.
Paul reminds us to recall the deeds of mercy and compassion. This is always the starting point for any divine request, command, or challenge. Remember how God introduces the covenant! Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples […] Then God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before Me. (Ex 19:3-5; 20:1-3)
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Accepting the covenant, keeping the commandments, and fulfilling them, is nothing else but my answer to his compassion. Therefore, Paul urges to offer your bodies as living, holy, well accepted sacrifice to God, your spiritual worship (Rom 12:1). He uses the liturgical and sacrificial language of the Old Testament. After choosing the sacrifice, the second step is its preparation. From Paul’s perspective the preparation is not to comfort our thinking to this world and its logic, but to renew it. This will lead to the ability to discern, distinguish, acknowledge what is the Lord’s will and what is not. The Greek dokimazein – to discern literally means test and verify or proof by fire. Part of offering our lives to the Lord as a living sacrifice requires discernment daily.
In other words, it is about making choices. From the very beginning humans were to make choices (Genesis 2:17; 12:1-4). To which voice will I consent? How do I distinguish between the voice of God, my own voice (desires of heart), and the mysterious voice of sin (devil)? Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 Jn 4:1).
The basic principle is to compare everything with the commandments of God. The greatest commandment is to love God and the neighbor (Mt 22:37-40), the rest is derivation, as Jesus says. God will never contradict himself. He will never inspire a desire or an act that would go against the path he has shown in his Son and in the covenant made on Sinai.
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The objective principle of discernment is indeed the greatest commandment and the Decalogue. On the subjective level, impulses coming from outside are causing in our heart certain emotions, moods, and attitudes. To help distinguish what the source is, it is important to recognize the fruits. Just as Jesus said every tree is known by its fruits (Mt 7:16-20; 12:33; Lk 6:44).
Consequently, the first guiding principal is Scripture itself. Read carefully 1Cor 13:1-13; Gal 5:13-26; Eph 4:17-5:11; and Col 3:1-4:5. Anthony the Great (251-356 AD) teaches the golden rule of the discernment, based on his own long-standing experience: what comes from the Holy Spirit brings joy, unspeakable, cheerfulness, courage, renewed strength, calmness of thought, boldness, and love of God and his commandments. The evil one, by contrast, inspires thoughts and desires causing confusion in the heart, creating disorder of thoughts, resentment toward discipline, spiritual sloth, dejection, memory of past failures as positive experiences, and fear of death. It causes instability of character and contempt for virtue. A simplified axiom was proposed “anything that is disquieting comes from the devil”.
The Holy Spirit brings peace. The darkness turbulence. The Holy Spirit acts in accordance with the Word of God. The darkness relativizes. The Holy Spirit brings boldness and wisdom. The darkness inspires to ‘keep it secret’, ‘do it your way’. Remember when Paul proposes instructions, he does so based on his own experience. Therefore, it is already verified.