Love letter #17: The Measure of Love: sacrifice

Today I am going to take the liberty of sharing an excerpt of a book I'm reading with you: Good to Great in God's Eyes- Ten Practices Great Christians Have in Common, by Chip Ingram. It is from the chapter "Make Great Sacrifices".

"I saw a great illustration of this principle [that sacrifice is is the clearest and greatest evidence of the extent of one's love (John 15:13)] on an Animal Planet television show recently. A small lioness was having trouble getting food for her cubs, but she finally killed her prey. Too small to drag the meal to her cubs, she went and got them to come to it.

On the way back, seven or eight hyenas surrounded her and her babies. She had an opportunity to run, but she didn't. Faced with impossible odds this lioness was willing to die in an attempt to save her cubs. And for reasons I can't explain, emotions swelled up inside of me as I saw her frantically swipe at hyenas attempting to attack her little ones. That kind of devotion is built into the design of creation. It resonates with us.

[Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13]

When we're truly devoted to someone or something, we're willing to make sacrifices. If you want to know what you really love, all you have to do is notice where you're giving your time, your energy, your money, and your dreams.....It's not hard to see how that principle applies to being a follower of Jesus. Whatever we have to offer, it will naturally flow in the direction of our deepest affections. The degree of our sacrifice corresponds to the degree of our love. Great Christians demonstrate great love by making great sacrifices."

Lord, help us to take great risks and make great sacrifices that are a natural outflow of our love for you. Challenge us on how where we give our time, our energy our money, and our dreams. Then, let us fight against impossible odds, knowing that you are our champion (Romans 8:31-39). Amen.