Love sacrifices..

again you decide to "take one for the team," you decide to do something you would rather not, tearing down your selfish nature, you decide to think of the other person, even though it may inconvenience you a little, make you feel uncomfortable, or force you to SACRIFICE something else. you decide to be selfless. to put the other person and their feelings above your own. but you get no thanks at all..hurts a little don't it?

now it's your turn to call upon your friends. you are in need of some support, but you turn to your left and to your right and find that nobody is there. the friends which you have selflessly given all that you could possibly give to them have fled to fulfill their own selfish desires. it was too inconvenient for them. all you need was a simple favor, one you would have done for them in a snap of the fingers. all you are asking is for a few minutes of their time. but they are nowhere to be found. they bail on you. excuses. after all the sacrifices you made, nobody seems to care enough to put their own agendas aside for a minute to give you a little something in return.. gets kinda old doesn't it? doesn't it make you want to give them a taste of their own medicine?

but here's the thing..Christ became the perfect Sacrifice, the greatest Sacrifice..He laid down His life for His friends. and yet we hardly ever give Him near enough in return. (so for all of us who get worn out of endlessly giving and giving with no receiving, just imagine how the Lord feels! and take comfort in the fact that He is right beside you in that..even though His sacrifice was much greater than yours ever was..)we find it so hard for us to sacrifice even a little of our lives, time, thoughts, heart, money..and ironically none of that we really own. and despite our hesitancy to sacrifice in return, our Father just continues to sacrifice and pour out more and more upon us, lavishing us with Love of many forms, when we selfishly hold onto things that don't matter, staying in our comfort zones. DON'T HOLD ON..SURRENDER..the Lord begs for us to sacrifice our lives. He already holds them. but until we surrender fully to Him, His work cannot fully manifest in us. lay it all down at His feet..true sacrifice leads to more abundant, meaningful receiving, sometimes maybe not in the way we would have planned, but in an even greater way. that's just the way Love works..

so if we really want to grasp what Love really is, it is time to start laying down our lives for our friends. no, that is not me giving you a license to go kill yourself in honor of your friend. it is not me saying that you have to always do whatever it is that your friend asks of you. it is just me advising that when you are in a circumstance where you must make a decision about sacrificing or being selfish, it is never wrong to choose sacrifice, even for people that are not even your friends! forgo your agenda for the day, let go of your selfishness, give up something. you may never know how much that friend, that person needed you that day. look at the motives behind your decision. don't make excuses. be real. we all know when we are doing something out of our own interest. if you find that the motives of your decision are selfish, maybe it's time to ask the Lord to help you rethink that choice. ask Him to give you a sacrificial kind of love, the love that He showed to us as He reached out His arms and selflessly laid down His life..


[i just want to write a little note of thanks to my parents who have sacrificed EVERYTHING for me at times..they have ALWAYS been there through the years for me..all i have had to do is just call and they would come running just as fast as they could, helping in anyway possible..they are prime examples of sacrificial love.]

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." -John 15:13

thank God for the friends who give up their entire day, just to make sure you get through yours okay..