Living Sacrifices in the Little Years

I had just sat down on our couch after putting the kids to bed when our temperamental cat decided that it was the perfect time to get some snuggles in.

Big mistake. I endured his well-meaning purrs for about 20 seconds before I found myself yelling at him to get off of me. 

“I just need 5 minutes where no one is touching me!” I screamed. My husband, unaware of the tension that had been building throughout the day, chuckled and said, “You do realize you’re talking to a cat, right?”

The tensions fizzled and we both laughed and moved on with the evening, but that sentiment still marks most of my days. In this season of littles, I constantly have a child on me. It’s like a vacuum - when one child leaves me, the other finds me. My body is the source of snuggles for bumped toes or hurt feelings. It’s the source of food for our baby and the ideal jungle gym for our toddler. It’s the safe space my son can toddle to, knowing that I’ll catch him when he falls. It’s the perfect reading spot to curl up with. It has carried and fed both our babies and aches and groans at the end of each day because of it.

This particular sacrifice is draining and demanding, but it’s also an incredibly beautiful picture of an appeal we see in Scripture:

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2

Paul just spent the first 11 chapters of Romans describing our desperate need for Christ and the incredible gift of our Savior. Our state without Jesus was hopeless and doomed, but Jesus undeservedly rescued us from that fate and offers the incredible promises of forever communion with God in heaven. It is because of this great gift that Paul can present this appeal.

Because God has saved us, we can offer our lives, our bodies, and our minds to him as a spiritual act of worship. John Piper explains it this way:

“God wants visible, lived-out, bodily evidence that our lives are built on his mercy. Just as worshipers in the Old Testament denied themselves some earthly treasure (a sheep, a goat, a bull), and carried their sacrifices to the altar of blood and fire, so we deny ourselves some earthly treasure or ease or comfort, and carry ourselves — our bodies — for Christ’s sake to the places and the relationships and the crises in this world where mercy is needed.” -John Piper

It is so easy to see this played out in the little years of motherhood. It’s not hard to find opportunities to deny ourselves of ease and comfort, especially when it comes to our bodies. It’s also not hard for seeds of discontentment to be sown when you haven’t had a body break in 12 hours. But rather than feel the inconvenience and demand these little years take on our bodies, what if we reoriented our sights to see this moment as a tangible opportunity to live out the appeal Paul has given us? What if we joyfully offered this sacrifice as a means to point our children to the love and mercy of Christ?

Today, when I’m forced to stop what I’m doing to nurse my son, when my personal space is invaded by a cuddle-seeking toddler, when comforting hugs are needed, a lap is requested for storytime, or my children just need to be held, I pray that I can lavish on them the same love Christ has given me. I pray that my heart would worship the God who gave me these beautiful blessings in the first place. I pray that he would renew my selfish mind and transform me into his likeness.

This living sacrifice we can offer to Christ won’t look like this forever. It will change as our season of life shifts. But regardless of what season we are in, our God is worth every moment of worship we can offer and more.

So, I’m offering an appeal to myself and to all mommas of young children to use these little years to reflect God’s love and mercy to our children with every hug, every snuggle, and every inconvenient moment our bodies are needed. What a glorious way to worship our God!