Sacrifice

– Giving up what I want to help someone else and honor God –

It is not easy to want to give up what you want or need.  Fear, worry, pain, and discomfort all make sacrifice a very difficult thing.  But when you choose to give up something you want as a gift to God you are choosing to trust God and honor Him, and He will never let you down.  You can sacrifice something to God by obeying your parents and giving up your plans.  You can sacrifice as a gift to God when you see your friend is sad and you give your favorite snack.  When you give something to anyone else because you are trusting God you are offering Him a gift of sacrifice.

More than that, sacrifice is at the heart of true leadership.  Great leadership is leading others with a desire to help them.  That takes great sacrifice.  That is exactly what Jesus demonstrated to us as our great leader.  He looked at us and had great compassion because we were going to die in eternal separation from Him.  His compassion led Him to come to earth and give His very life as a sacrifice for you and me.  He chose to die so that you don’t have to have eternal death.  He died so you could live.  That is great sacrifice that came from compassion demonstrated by the greatest leader of all.

“We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.” – 1 John 3:16 (NLT)