Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.
In this passage, Paul is writing to those who have come to faith in Christ, have been crucified with him, and now experience new life in him. And here he instructs us on how to live as those who are alive in Christ.
We have a choice. We can offer the parts of ourselves to sin as instruments of wickedness. Or we can offer every part of ourselves to God as instruments of righteousness. It may be tempting to understand the first choice as referring to explicitly wicked actions. But, given the binary nature of the choice, I believe it is more appropriate to see the first choice as choosing to please myself while the second is choosing to please God instead.
This is not a one-and-done choice. Instead, it is an ongoing series of choices we make each day. And it concerns every part of who we are: our hands and feet; the words we speak; what we look at; and the things we think about.
Paul tells us in this chapter that, as believers, we have a new life in Christ; we are not who we were; the person we were before is dead and buried. And, because we are new people, we should live like it. It is only reasonable that we live in a way that pleases and honors the one who gave us this new life rather than continuing to live for ourselves. So choose to offer yourselves to God for his use each day and in every way.
