By Ruth Apke
Many different examples come to mind when you hear the word sacrifice. You might think of a sacrifice as what you think of in the Maya culture of long ago. You might think of the Hebrews’ sacrifices from the Old Testament. Some of you might think of our soldiers who sacrificed for our country. On a more personal note, some might think of a lack of sleep or missed opportunities to care for family and loved ones. When you Google sacrifice, you will find many definitions from killing on an altar to a deity to giving up something important to you for the sake of others.
For some sacrifices, we are aware and conscious of those sacrifices. When a young man or woman signs up to serve in the military, they make a conscious sacrifice. They give up their autonomy and safety to protect and serve our country. When working through school, individuals may intentionally sacrifice better living conditions, better food, and even relationships to graduate. Individuals in a marriage will sacrifice for each other their own will for the betterment of the couple as a whole. They all knowingly choose to give up something of value to them.
We sacrifice time, relationships, and opportunities without even thinking about it. We may not even be aware of this sacrifice. Professionals will subconsciously sacrifice their marriage and other relationships for their careers. They get caught up in believing one more promotion or one more recognition, and then they will have time to spend with their family and friends just to find them gone one day.
A parent, who will unknowingly sacrifice time with their children to be on social media, games, or other electronics where “Just one more minute” turns into hours, not realizing they are sacrificing their children with the child asking “Why am I not important?” We are not aware of these types of sacrifices and who or what we are sacrificing to.
The conscious sacrifice is one where you give up something important to you for the sake or
benefit of others. It is an unselfish sacrifice. You choose to sacrifice out of love for others. The
subconscious sacrifice is similar to the definition of killing on the altar to a deity. The
subconscious sacrifice is usually more selfish. This sacrifice is to benefit yourself even though
you might think it is for others. What is being “killed” and “to what” is being sacrificed? Families, time, freedom, peace, and relationships are being “killed” on the altar of Lies and Deceit.
The Bible is full of warnings on not allowing ourselves to be led astray or be deceived. It is easy to fall for the lies and deceit. It comes in the most inconspicuous forms. Hundreds of billions of dollars a year are spent on telling us where to spend our money and time. We fall for the lie that everyone else has one and you will be left out. We are deceived that we are less if we don’t possess the newest item or spend time on the newest social media posts, movies, or games. None of these examples are bad, but what are you sacrificing, and to what are you sacrificing to achieve these things?
We can’t talk about sacrifice without talking about the ultimate sacrifice. Would you willingly
give your child to die for others? The one true God did.
John 3:16 (NIV)
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Jesus Christ is that son. Simply put, we as humans were separated from God due to sin. God sent Jesus to earth as a baby. He grew up to be a man and he died on the cross taking all our sins on him. If we choose to believe this, we have a life forever with God. Studying the bible, worshiping, and being with other believers will help you live life more abundantly through His sacrifice.
We sacrifice each day, both consciously and subconsciously. The sacrifices are different and
the reasons for the sacrifice are different for each of us. We will sacrifice for things and people that are important to us, and hopefully one of those relationships is with Jesus Christ. We should be aware of our sacrifices, making sure our sacrifices are not done in vain.
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