Paul has asked us, in view of God’s mercy, to be a living sacrifice. And now, Paul, from Romans 12:6, begins to explain how that looks. He starts by encouraging everyone to use whatever gifts the Holy Spirit has given them to bless the church, to serve God through serving His people in the local church. Then, he moves on to individuals, talking to us and telling us that we must have sincere love for one another, that we must resist evil and live a life that is holy – this is what a disciplined disciple does. Either we pick up our cross and do what Jesus wants us to do in our lives for Him or we go on to autopilot and do our own thing, but Paul’s encouragement to us is this – because of God’s great love for us, we will live a life for Him through Jesus, serving God’s people and being a blessing to communities around us.