Sacrifice

So here's something to think about...Sacrifice. What role is sacrifice supposed to play in the life of the modern Christ-follower? I suppose that most believers are willing to sacrifice if we have to, or if somehow we are put in a situation where there is no other choice. But what about the kind of "die to yourself" "think of others as more important than yourself" sacrifice that the New Testament calls us to? I recently heard one pastor describe it as the difference between "what can I spare?" and "what will it take?" Here is where the rubber meets the road: If we truly believe that Jesus is Lord, then we will want to orient our lives around His purposes. The problem is that we end up orienting our lives around our own purposes. For the most part, we are not living as if we are on God's mission, we live like we are trying to build our own little empires. Empires that include nice homes, expensive cars, stylish clothes, the coolest gadgets, hobbies and vacations that cost us thousands of dollars a year. The point isn't that we all of these things are bad and that we should simply avoid them. The point is that we must line everything in our lives up against the purposes of the Jesus, the Mission of the Gospel, the Glory of God and ask does this fit? But as I think about it, this doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of sacrifice... Think about this: If I really want a $30,000 truck but instead I buy a $5,000 vehicle that meets my needs and provides transportation for my family, that is not sacrifice. If I have 4 winter coats in my closet and I know of someone who needs one and I give one away, that is not sacrifice. If I have my sights set on a $400,000 home with more room and luxuries than my family could possibly use and instead settle for a $100,000 home that meets our needs, that is not sacrifice. If I have more money than I can spend and I drop $20 in the offering plate at church, that is not sacrifice. Sacrifice is when you give up something that you will miss. Sacrifice hurts. Here is sacrifice: A young family hears about a group of people in a remote jungle that has never heard about Jesus so they give up their life comfortable to go live among those people to share the Good News with them, that is sacrifice. A man and his wife feel a burden to help battered women and their children so they quit their careers and begin a full-time ministry to these women, taking them into their own home and family sharing their problems as if they were their own. That is sacrifice. I don't think we will get to the point where we can sacrifice until we have a sense of what we are really living for. And this will take God working powerfully in our lives. Lord, please mold my heart to match yours!


He must increase, I must decrease.

JasonPS