A Life of Sacrifice
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A Life of Sacrifice
Safety, comfort and security are the priorities of the world, but that shouldn't be the case for believers.
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“I don’t want you to live a life in which you attend worship on Sundays, give a little money and are known for being nice.”
This is what a friend told his two married, adult sons recently.
“I want you to live a life in which you make a difference in people’s lives.”
I considered offering a paragraph or two of the way my buddy does this — and the list is quite long, but I don’t think we need to play the comparison game. I will say this about him though — he’s willing to get involved in sticky, sometimes dangerous situations. Comfort and security don’t cross his mind.
For him, the Christian life is about pouring himself out for God and others. That’s not to say he doesn’t still have to battle the old man. He certainly does. But his general way of life stands in contrast to what the world seeks: safety, comfort and security. And he doesn’t want this for his boys.
“By this we know [and have come to understand the depth and essence of His precious] love: that He [willingly] laid down His life for us [because He loved us],” writes the apostle John (1 John 3:16 AMP). “And we ought to lay down our lives for the believers.”
John ties in such willingness to live a life of sacrifice with the importance of meeting the needs of others.
“But whoever has the world’s goods (adequate resources), and sees his brother in need, but has no compassion for him, how does the love of God live in him? Little children (believers, dear ones), let us not love [merely in theory] with word or with tongue [giving lip service to compassion], but in action and in truth [in practice and in sincerity, because practical acts of love are more than words]” (1 John 3:17-18 AMP).
The believer pushes aside safety, comfort and security in favor of love, sacrifice and a willingness to lay down one’s life for others. That looks different for all of us, and you have to evaluate your own willingness to make sacrifices for the kingdom. But it’s worth contemplating.
Here are some tidbits you might find interesting this week:
If you long for the days of opening your mailbox to find a letter from a friend who is chronicling his or her travels, Letters from Afar might be a good alternative. Better yet, strike a deal with a friend to start sending each other such letters or postcards the next time one of you travels.
An Ode to Offline by Laura Kelly Fanucci is so good.
“It will always give a Christian the greatest calm, quiet, ease, and peace, to think of the perfect righteousness of Christ. How often are the saints of God downcast and sad! I do not think they ought to be. I do not think they would if they could always see their perfection in Christ.” -Spurgeon
Something to ponder: Lost from the middle of the wood by Alan Davey.
As a notebook geek, I’m enamored with the way people are using field notes notebooks. Here are a few links: Keeping a Field Journal, Using Field Notes to Guide Your Creative Writing, The Importance of Field Notes, How to Write an Effective Field Note, Documenting Your Trip in a Field Notes Notebook.
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Check out Lee’s books.