Almost uniformly, we view sacrifice as a burden, a pain, and as giving something up in a way that is not pleasant, as typified by expressions like, “I got where I wanted, but wow, was it ever a sacrifice!”
My experience with sacrifice is that the natural—and usually immediate—result is not pain. It’s love. My love for the people around me—and my feeling of love for and from God—grows as I sacrifice my:
- time
- energy
- resources
- pride
- self-interest
- need to be right
- need to dominate or be powerful
- need to be recognized for the good I do
- excessive pleasures
With each such sacrifice, my selfishness is diminished, and I feel a greater capacity to love others. With sacrifice comes love.
Although giving up such things or needs may seem like sacrifices in the beginning, eventually these acts feel like a freedom from that which was unloving—and therefore binding—in the first place. Sacrifice then becomes not only loving but freeing.
The love and freedom that result from such “sacrifices” can only be known if we actually make them. They cannot be learned from books. Our efforts in this direction consistently yield results that are beyond the power of words to describe.
Learn how to truly love others and give them what they need.
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