September 13, 2013

3 Things About 1 Word

September is Compassion International's Blog Month. Their goal is to have 3,160 children sponsored this month. Click here to sponsor a child.

This week's writing assignment is to write three things about one word. I chose the word sacrifice.

1. If you are a parent, you know what it is to sacrifice for your children. We sacrifice sleep and free time, we sacrifice financially to give them what they need and want. Really, we sacrifice in any way we deem necessary to give them the life we want them to have.

But I have never had to sacrifice my own meals so my boys could eat. My family eats three meals every day (plus snacks). I don't know how it feels to be hungry while I watch my children eat all the food we have, knowing there is not enough for all of us. Too many parents around the world do have to make that sacrifice for their children.
 

2. Our consumer culture doesn't encourage sacrifice for others, but God does. The world around us urges us to make sure we have the latest of everything - phones, tablets, cars, clothes, even fabric lines and toys. All of which means spending money on ourselves and feeling like we should be buying more and more and more. But God tells us to take care of widows and orphans (James 1:27) and to consider others better than ourselves, looking not only after ourselves but also looking after others ( Philippians 2: 3,4). John the Baptist even said in Luke 3: 11 that is someone has two tunics then they should give one to a person who has no tunic, "and the one who has food should do the same"!

3. A sacrifice made for someone else is an expression of love. Whether I am sacrificing sewing time to do homework with Nathan or you are giving up a Saturday to help a friend move, our actions reveal our feelings for that person. Jesus' sacrifice for us is even more profoundly an expression of love. Jesus left Heaven, lived as a man on earth and died an agonizing death, all for our benefit. Because He was willing to be the sacrifice to atone for my sins, your sins and those of anyone who believes, we have been given His righteousness and the hope of eternal life with Him. What an amazing, sacrificial expression of love.

Sponsoring a child is a sacrifice of $38 a month. For some, that's just not possible. For others, sponsoring several children at once is possible. Only you can know. If you can make that sacrifice of love, go here  and help change the life of a child and their family.

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