What kinds of sacrifices may I be called to make? - Sacrifice - TouchPoints

Genesis 13:9[Abram said to Lot] “The whole countryside is open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.”

Sometimes we may need to give up something in order to keep peace or maintain integrity in a relationship. Abram the patriarch allowed his nephew Lot to make the first choice of land to settle in, although it was obvious Lot would choose the more desirable low lands.

Ruth 1:16Ruth replied, “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God.”

We may be called to give up our favorite place, our friends, or our favorite things in order to be with the ones we love. Such a sacrifice shows our commitment of love and our understanding of what is truly important. Although Naomi loved and needed Ruth’s companionship, she was willing to sacrifice by giving the younger woman freedom. Ruth loved Naomi and readily sacrificed her country, familiar surroundings, and a possible marriage there to stay with a woman who had introduced her to the God of Israel.

Matthew 19:29“And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.”

John 15:19-21“The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.”

We might have to give up popularity, power, and family relationships to stay loyal to Jesus.

Romans 12:1So, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

2 Timothy 4:6As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near.

God wants us to give him our whole lives. We may have to sacrifice what is comfortable or pleasurable in order to do what is right. Approaching our days as a living sacrifice involves actively seeking God’s direction in all our plans and purposes.

John 13:12-17After washing their feet, he [Jesus] put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.”

Ephesians 5:2Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

1 Peter 2:21God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.

Jesus is the ultimate example of sacrificial living, worthy of being followed and imitated. We will never be asked to sacrifice as he did because he sacrificed as he did, but we are still challenged to live sacrificial lives. We may give our lives for others or live our lives for others, but we will not save them as Jesus sacrificed to save us all.

Hebrews 13:16Don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.

Just as Jesus gave himself for us, he wants us to give ourselves to serve other people—even to the point of giving our lives for them if necessary. Living a truly sacrificial life is often at least as challenging as dying a sacrificial death.

Hebrews 13:15Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.

When we praise God, we are offering him a pleasing sacrifice. Why? Because we are deliberately ignoring the temptation to praise ourselves and pursue self-centered desires and instead turn our attention to the only one truly worthy of all praise—God.