Recently my mentor’s 96-year-old mother passed away from Alzheimer’s disease. Still, she courageously fought the devastating disease for four years. She was like a grandmother to me. I remember going to North Georgia and staying with her for weekend visits and talking to her about her late husband who served in World War II.
Listening to old stories about how life used to be and how much things have changed. We would even exchange agricultural goods sometimes. She would give me fresh blueberries or jam from her garden and I would take her bags of pecans that I had picked up.
We shared excitement for nature. We also shared the same faith and it was an honor to sit down and interview her for my first book before the disease entered her mind. It was just the two of us in her home on the family farm nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Being a great grandmother who survived the Great Depression, she understood what it meant to sacrifice, there’s nothing to lose. I asked her how she sacrificed for her family. She looked at me in confusion and said, “It’s not a sacrifice when you do it for the people you love. You do the best you can for them and hope they turn out right.”
She understood the joy of sacrifice and its purpose. I witnessed the same sacrifice in my parents’ marriage. How my father often went without his desires for the sake of the family and how he was willing to risk his life health to make my mother happy.
Personal agendas cannot exist in a compromise. This is why Jesus taught His followers to deny themselves and take up their crosses daily, there is no best of both worlds (Matthew 16:34!) There are no excuses for Christians not to sacrifice in faith—unless of course, they're not Christians. The Bible is full of stories about the hallowed Saints who gave everything for their faith.
Hallowed?
Hallowed is a spiritual term, it simply means to be made holy or sacred, greatly revered. Remember when God spoke to Moses through the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-23?)
Not only was he walking on sacred ground, but Moses also became sacred because God had chosen him and would use him for God’s plan, not men—not Israel’s. He became great in the faith not because he was pursuing greatness, but because God chose him, until then he was exiled and hiding in the desert from Pharaoh.
Moses sacrificed his position in Egypt for the good of his people and then God chose this willing servant. God knew Moses understood what it meant to give everything up for Him. Sacrifice puts self aside to pursue a greater good; I know it can set me free from my selfishness.
Sacrifice is part of living, as I write this our government is struggling to come up with a bipartisan package to help struggling Americans, there’s a struggle because some people just don’t know how to sacrifice or compromise, it’s selflessness to the core and it says take on me.
Selfishness snuffs out servanthood, it’s not the character of Christians. Throughout the Bible we see stories of believers who suffered for the faith; the first-century church is the blueprint for the church in the 21st century.
On His way to the cross, Jesus told His followers that everything He was doing, they would do also all. All of those early followers did what Jesus said, they suffered and sacrificed and even gave their lives for their faith.
Sacrifice isn’t a popular or feel-good teaching, but it is a Biblical truth, it’s what believers do. As Kyle Idleman notes, “There’s a difference between being a fan and a follower of Jesus." Followers sacrifice, fans just say “Christian” things and attend church on Sunday morning, there’s a difference.
The Difference?
Jesus Himself knows the difference, which is why one day He will separate His sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:31-46.) Sheep follow the shepherd no matter what, goats have a mind of their own and only seek to satisfy themselves. I have learned that only God can restore me.
A goat eats whatever it sees, as long as it thinks it will satisfy the hunger inside, even harmful things. Goats often lead sheep to their death when left together, over a cliff or into dangerous territory; hence, the need for a shepherd to separate them.
Interestingly, this month many will celebrate Halloween. Traditionally, the holiday started as a spiritual one to remember the Saints of old, November 1st is All Saints Day and Halloween is the eve of celebrating the Saints who have gone home to our Father’s house.
While some refuse to celebrate the holiday like the world, others tend to miss the beauty in celebrating the sacrifices of our forefathers, they don’t play cheap.
Followers, true Saints, will follow Jesus to the cross no matter what; fans and goats pursue their own goals and dreams. They are unwilling to sacrifice like, the Saints, who are hallowed!
