Holy and Living?

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

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I guess you could say that this it my life verse.

It seems like every time it starts to feel like I'm slipping away from where I should be, God brings this verse back up.

This time the question that keeps ringing in my ears is,

"What kind of sacrifice are you?"

Do I give God my best? Do I give Him the first fruits of my life?

I have to admit that I have not been presenting myself as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to Him. Just as the guest preacher at my church pointed out in the book of Malachi, I've been offering up a lame and sick offering to the Lord.

A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, 'How have we despised your name?' By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, 'How have we polluted you?' By saying that the LORD’s table may be despised. When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts.

Malachi 1:6-8

When I think about the various areas of my life and compare them to Scripture, I can't help but notice that I've put myself before God.

Instead of giving the Lord the first fruits of my day, I'd rather hit the snooze button again.

Instead of giving the Lord the first fruits of my labor, I'd rather hold onto that money just in case we don't have enough for gas or food.

Instead of honoring God through putting my family and others before myself, I would rather watch some TV to "recharge" before doing anything. You know, like all the advice books and magazines give you. I've "gotta take care of me first or I'll be no good to anyone". As good as that sounds, it's just not Biblical.

**side note: I'm not saying neglect yourself, I'm just saying don't do it at the expense of who you should really be serving.

The Lord is SO good to draw me back to where I should be!

I am so thankful that even though I am still sinful and selfish, He's still faithful and gracious to forgive!

Now the question is...how do I fix this? How do I put my priorities back to where they need to be?!

Please tell me I'm not alone in this! How do you all keep Christ the main focus of your life?