Last week, while sitting at lunch, the conversation around the table turned to a blogging lady whose lifestyle changes have so dramatically altered how she feels and the quality of her life that she believes she will never again be able to return to her previous bad habits.
When sacrifices result in a greater good, they no longer seem like sacrifices … but there is often a period of commitment without benefit needed to get to that point.
What would you (and I) sacrifice for a greater good?
screen time? (TV, gaming, computer)
sleep?
money?
hobbies?
vacation?
free time?
chocolate?
What is a greater good that is worth sacrificing for?
a healthier body?
a longer life?
a better job/career?
a healthier/happier family?
a contribution into the life of one in need?
a better ability to sleep?
a better peace of mind?
a better future?
a hope …
I am amazed at what God will use, in the form of sacrifices He asks of us, to get us to a greater good. Often those sacrifices seem to be too much for our understanding that benefit, or good, could ever come of them.
Yet, when we look at examples of sacrifice, we also can see greater good.
– good men died in offensives against Nazi forces, but the benefit was liberation of concentration camps
– Martin Luther King Jr. was shot dead, but his dream continues to live on
– Mother Teresa gave her life to the work of Christ on behalf of the people of Calcutta
– at 15 years old, Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head, because extremists feared her advocacy for education for girls
The greatest sacrifice for greater good was given by the Creator of the universe, and the greater good is available to all :
Jew or Greek
slave or free
male or female
Through God’s sacrifice of His Son, “all one in Christ Jesus” (Galations 3:28). God knew (being all-knowing is helpful) that the sacrifice, though enormous, though personal, was for a greater good … the redemption of sin.
So, He made the sacrifice that hurt the most, even though He knew that not all would accept it. And that is what sacrifice is, it is an offer to give all, for the greater good, knowing that others might choose to ignore the reason for the sacrifice.
It is the message of Jesus himself, when he said, “greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” But Jesus did not just lay down his life for his friends, he lay down his life for all … friends and enemies, knowing that not all would accept the sacrifice.
Although, when speaking earlier this year to the United Nations, Malala Yousafzai said the following of herself, these words could also speak to the life and sacrifice of God … his child, who became teacher, the Bible, written by himself through man can (has and will) change the world.
“One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.”
Malala Yousafzai
itsawonderfilledlife 