Tuesday, May 12, 2020
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
Sacrifice and Service in Love
What does it really mean to sacrifice? Most of us like the thought of sacrificing for someone when it makes us look good but when it gets nitty gritty and we are inconvenienced, we are done. The definition of sacrifice is an act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy. When we talk about sacrifice, we are generally talking about sacrificing our time, or desires, so that we can give to or serve others. The Mother’s Day sermon this past Sunday was about a mother who sacrificed. Mother’s sacrifice much for their children. Sacrifice can be so hard when it seems like the recipients are ungrateful, and let’s face it, children can seem very ungrateful because they do not fully understand the price paid. It is when they grow up and have their own children that they realize the sacrifice of parenthood.
What does it really mean to sacrifice? Most of us like the thought of sacrificing for someone when it makes us look good but when it gets nitty gritty and we are inconvenienced, we are done. The definition of sacrifice is an act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy. When we talk about sacrifice, we are generally talking about sacrificing our time, or desires, so that we can give to or serve others. The Mother’s Day sermon this past Sunday was about a mother who sacrificed. Mother’s sacrifice much for their children. Sacrifice can be so hard when it seems like the recipients are ungrateful, and let’s face it, children can seem very ungrateful because they do not fully understand the price paid. It is when they grow up and have their own children that they realize the sacrifice of parenthood.
When we choose to love, we choose to sacrifice, and to serve. Choosing to love another is choosing to love God
and to show His love through our heart. Choosing
to serve is about choosing to serve God.
Loving and serving people is hard when they are unlovable, as humans
will be sometimes. Could we ever really love and serve those around us without
the supernatural power of our Heavenly Father?
God calls
us to live a life of sacrifice, but He also promises us greater joy in return.
The problem we run into is disappointment because God’s plan for our
lives doesn’t always look the way we thought it would – even the joy. The
promise of joy we envision, may not be God’s plan of greater joy for us. We may
sacrifice our whole lives for a return that doesn’t ever come. We sacrifice for our children, but sometimes
they grow up to rebel, become criminals and drug addicts and sadly we even
sometimes lose them completely. So that
is not the joy we saw coming when we were changing diapers, breastfeeding, and
wiping noses. The sacrifice cannot be made
for the return because that return sometimes doesn’t come. We sacrifice because
we love God first, and we love people. Sacrifice
is a gift, given with return hoped for, but not as a condition of.
We become
more Christ like and closer to God when we sacrifice and serve as God calls us
to. Sacrificing and serving others is
messy and inconvenient, and many times not even what we signed up for – but it
is. If we make the choice to truly sacrifice
and serve, then we have to make the choice to accept whatever that looks like. True
service is not, I will as long as…, or I will if I get this in return…True
sacrifice and service comes out of the overflow of love – our love for God. It can’t be about the people we are serving,
and it can’t be about us. It has to be about God or it doesn't come from the right place.
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take
up their
cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
