A Life of Sacrifice
“We are called to live a life of sacrifice.” Have you ever heard that phrase? Maybe during church? Sunday School? Church conference? Facebook/Instagram post? Meme?
Chances are you’ve heard or seen this quote plenty of times. I have, too. But the most recent time I saw it, I started reflecting more deeply on its meaning. Writing a Christian blog and being an active member of a vibrant Bible Study will do that to you!
What does it mean that we are called to live a life of sacrifice?
First, there are multiple definitions of the word sacrifice, and none of them sound like something anyone would want to do.
Sacrifice (noun)
An act of offering to a deity something precious especially: the killing of a victim on an altar
Something offered in sacrifice
Destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else, or something given up or lost
Wow - is that really what God wants from us? Sacrifice? Why? Why would a loving God require sacrifice from us, and why would anyone WANT to follow a God who requires that?
It turns out, as too often happens, that’s not exactly what the Bible says. At least, I couldn’t find any verse that says we’re to live a life of sacrifice.
To be fair, the Old Testament IS full of required sacrifices the Israelites had to make to atone for their sins, but once Jesus came and offered Himself as the once and for all sacrifice, everything changed. Jesus became the bridge between the Old and the New - the WAY for us to be reconciled with God’s original design for us.
Hosea 6:6 (Old Testament) says, “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” In Matthew 9:12-14 (New Testament), Jesus says, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means, ‘I desired mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
The sacrifice God requires of us isn’t that of the Old Testament. It is so much more, and at the same time, nothing at all.
You see, when we give ourselves to God and His plan for our life, we become a part of a prismatic kaleidoscope of opportunity, possibility, transformation, and worship of the One True God.
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - his good, pleasing, and perfect will,” (Romans 12:1-3).
We aren’t called to sacrifice as they did in the Old Testament, nor are we called to sacrifice human pleasure in a way that removes all pleasure inherent in being human. Instead, the sacrifice is a focus - a channeling of everything we are and all we have control over into doing the work of God.
“My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise,” (Psalm 51:17).
When our spirit is broken, we have nowhere else to go except to God, and it is in our brokenness and contriteness of heart that we offer the sacrifice of ourselves. It is with this sacrifice that we can live the life He always intended for us to live: a life dedicated to the work God has put us here to do while we await our return to our true home.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
The life He wants us to have shines out of our sacrifice, our commitment of all we are and everything we have, and our dedication to the race we’re running in His name.
It may not always be easy, but it’s never hard. It’s what we were designed to do, and in our sacrifice we both honor Jesus’ sacrifice for us and draw as near to Him as we can on this side of eternity. Our sacrifice is our living and continuous testimony of the love and power of God. It is a process, so it must be purposefully chosen every moment of every day in everything we do and say.
“For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy,” (Hebrews 10:14).
Being made holy – it is a statement of perpetuity. Never a one-and-done, we immerse ourselves and saturate our beings in sacrificing ourselves to God’s plan so we can solidly walk in the footsteps of Jesus. As long as we keep stepping in His footsteps, we will never get lost.
AMEN.
