Sacrifice, Fake Sacrifice, and Love
What would you sacrifice to ensure the ones you love are safe and secure?
When I was growing up, there were several people in my life who made sacrifices for me. They’d sacrifice their time, money, or wants and desires to lift me up and put me in the best position for life. I’m pretty sure my mom didn’t love playing with GI Joes, but she would always get down on the ground and play with me when I asked. She was sacrificing her time and her desires in order to be with me and do something I enjoyed. When I wanted to go out for sports, my dad would always step up and step in to coach a team I wanted to play on. He sacrificed his time and gave his energy for me and other kids. These seem like small sacrifices, but they made a huge difference. Even today, I recognize the only way my own kids get to play in a league or perform in a drama club is if there are other people willing to sacrifice their time to be with the kids, coach them, and teach them.
What would you sacrifice to ensure the ones you love are safe and secure?
I think we especially like to see this art of sacrifice depicted in books, movies, and stories because of the way it makes us feel inside. Sacrifice takes courage and there’s something significant that grows in us when we read about or watch brave happening before our eyes, when men and women set their own safety and well-being aside for the good of others. I believe this pull toward courage comes from the God-created, internal desire to seek after Him and His sacrifice driven heart.
In the Old Testament, God tells us about a man named Abraham, and what God demanded of him. Abraham had waited a lifetime, a full 100 years, for a son to be born. When He was born, Abraham named him Isaac. Isaac’s birth is found in one chapter of the Bible, and only one chapter later, we read God’s terrifying instructions to Abraham, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
No. My answer is no. No, God.
In fact, I believe this is everyone’s internal, automatic response, even Abraham’s. God Himself has to change our hearts on this one. Our basic instinct is to rebel and resist God and His commands, especially when they smart. The only way we can listen to God and walk forward in bravery is if God does some big stuff inside of us. When Abraham walked up the mountain with his son on that terrifying day, God walked with him. Without that, He never would have been able to do it. We know Abraham patiently waits for God to follow through, to make His work known when Isaac asks his dad, “What are we going to sacrifice?” and Abraham responds, “God will provide...” Abraham knew God. Much later, hundreds of years later we are told Abraham ”considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead.” The act of trusting in the God’s great restoration plan is a brave act of love.
What would you sacrifice to ensure the ones you love are safe and secure?
More importantly, what would you give to save the ones you love?
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
That is brave love on God’s part. When we sacrifice we want to condemn and point out need and error and all kinds of dirt. When we sacrifice we want someone to notice. God on the other hand sends His Son without fanfare. God saves without fanfare. We can love bravely and let God save bravely, without fanfare.
When Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13 about giving everything away and giving everything up, he’s talking about sacrifice, but also motivation. We want our loved ones to be safe and secure. We want good things for them, but mostly, we want them to know God and be saved by God’s brave love.
Heidi’s response:
God does some goooooood work when I can sacrifice something without throwing a tiny fit about it or when He helps me love past what advice I want to give instead of care and comfort. I like how Matt points out that when God asks Abraham for a big brave thing, a huge thing, and he moves forward in faith, that doesn’t mean Abraham wasn’t internally struggling. Loving brave isn’t about being fake and faithful, it’s about taking a step and loving brave in the moments our hearts pound so loud our ears may burst, or all the words of “Notice what I gave!” want to roar out…because our God saves. It’s Who He is. He’s never fake. His sacrifice was real and really lives in our lives every day.