Romans 12:1-3 Msg.
"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your every day, ordinary life-your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around-life and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. 2. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. 3. I'm speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him."
At the end of 2010 I began to reflect on my personal life. How it is that I got to where I am today and all of the things that I've been through. I must say that it hasn't been an easy road for me to travel down but in the end I realized that it was a road that was destined for me to travel down. I wouldn't sit here and tell you that I've liked every corner, street or people that I had to endure but at the end of it all I'm very grateful for it because I understand now that it has shaped me to become the young man that I am and it even helped to shape the lives of those whom were around me. I won't lye and tell you that I was perfect; that I made all the right decisions; that I said or thought all the right things; or even that I always treated people the way they should've of been treated but one thing I do know and have learned is that my life has been about sacrifice.
Sacrifice is defined as an unselfish giving; worship offering. All-in-all sacrifice is a conscience decision that a person chooses to make in life. This decision says that I'm willing to give up something that I want so badly in order to help better the life or well-being of someone else. It doesn't mean that I give up everything and be left with nothing, but that I take what I have and make it more meaningful by sowing/giving into the life of someone else. The most amazing part about it all is that the life that truly becomes most meaningful~changed or empowered, besides those that are around you, is the life of the one who is making the sacrifice.
Now if you're anything like me or even some others (Jesus, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Barak Obama, parents, educators, etc...) which have all sacrificed in order to better the lives of others, you've probably ask some of the same questions that I wanted to know the answers to. Well prayerfully today after reading this you will have gotten some more insight and take a totally different look at the purpose and meaning behind your sacrificing.
Why should I sacrifice?
I've asked this question plenty of times in the short span of my life. For whatever reason it seemed like I could never be what would be defined as a normal person. I didn't get to always do all the things that people my age was doing growing up. Once again I'm not saying that I was better than anyone cause I was a long shot away from that but some things just didn't fit and I always found myself asking the question "Why me?" Well let me tell you what I found out: 1) because God's word says that we should, 2) because there are others in need of your sacrifice, & 3) because you will receive the greatest benefit from it.
1) Because God's word says that we should: I had to come to the understanding that my life and my body doesn't belong to me but it belongs to God. Even before I was saved and became a Christian I learned that as much as I wanted to do my own thing and even tried to do my own thing, I had God's voice in my ear telling me that I didn't belong to myself. Please understand that we don't belong to ourselves but we belong to God and therefore all that we do should honor and please Him. Jesus had to find this out and if God expected for him to know it then how should we think that we aren't suppose to know it. All throughout the Bible and life God is speaking to us and letting us know that He has called on us to sacrifice for him.
2) Because there are others in need of your sacrifice: Not only is it because God tells us to but also we have to realize that there are those who are really dependant on our sacrifice in order to get to where God would have for them to go. You know even to this day I can say that I don't like it and growing up being the oldest child I surely didn't like it but the motivation that I had to continue doing it was for the mere fact that I learned that others were dependant upon my sacrifice and if I didn't then they wouldn't be able to do in life what they are suppose to do. If we look back at the life of Dr. MLK Jr. then we should be able to understand that if it had not been for the sacrifice that he made to stand up for civil rights for all people (all races included) then we as a people would not be able to do the things that we can currently. If Jesus hadn't went to the cross and died for our sins then we wouldn't be able to make it to heaven or even pray to God. Your sacrifice may not seem as though it is as momentous of an occasion as theirs but to someone it is. That which God has called you to do means just as much to those in whom you've been called to sacrifice for as what Jesus, Dr. MLK Jr. and others have done. I encourage to never discount the sacrifice you make because even if it doesn't seem like something large in someone else eye, then you should be encouraged to know that it means the most in the eye of the One who matters the most, which is God.
3) Because you will receive the greatest benefit from it: You know often times we're seeking after what will give us the most recognition or prestige among a group of people. We're always asking, how will this benefit me and how do I know that they appreciate what I've done for them. Well an attitude like that really doesn't show that you're sacrificing but it shows that you're being selfish. Don't get it twisted in me saying that you shouldn't feel appreciated for the things that you do for others, because I will tell you that's one of my biggest pet peeves (those whom don't appreciate what you do or have done for them), but what I am saying is that I don't do anything looking for some instant gratification or appreciation from man because I do the things that I do for the love that I truly have for God. Therefore because that's my intent behind it all then I have found that my sacrificing has been of the greatest benefit to myself. Not necessarily beneficial in material things, but beneficial in life changing. I've seen things come to pass in my life that I only dreamed about at one point in time and never thought would happen. I've gained some life changing and long lasting relationships with people that truly love and accept me for who I am. And to top it all off I have a great relationship with God who comforts me, cares for me and loves me just the way I am and is willing to lead, guide and direct me into the path that He has destined for me. If these are not great benefits then I truly don't know what is.
All in all you should be able to see that your life has meaning when you truly sacrifice for God. It shouldn't be about how is this going to help me or what am I going to get for it in the end but make it about pleasing God and making the lives of those around you better. Later this week I will finish the 2nd part to this and tell you: What it takes to sacrifice and how long you should sacrifice because I've also found out that all sacrifices aren't meant to last forever. I pray that you are blessed by this and that something here helps you to continue to go beneath the surface in your life. For all that is done God truly gets all the glory, honor and praise. Be Blessed! ~AJH
