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Personal sacrifice. Two of the most difficult words for any Christian. Since 2006 I have come to learn a great deal about my faith in Jesus. I am still learning what it means to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. There’s always been a passage of scripture that I really didn’t understand. It’s found in the gospel of Luke: Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me (Luke 18:22). For years, before and after the date I received Jesus as my Savior, I’ve heard preachers say this verse is really geared to showing God’s hatred of the wealthy. Is that really so?
The ruler can be any of us – so about those possessions?
The verse I shared above has always been applied by most preachers to be about rich people. Jesus also taught, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God (Mark 10:25). In our society there is a hatred of the wealthy. Even those who do not believe in God or the Bible will use its teachings as means to show how wealth is bad. What is it about personal wealth that God hates?
It is not wealth that is bad; it is the love of wealth where sin resides. All through the Old and New Testaments we see where God has used those who possessed wealth to carry out His goals. In all honesty, While Jesus is teaching about wealth, it is not wealth He is teaching against. Think for a moment about His time with Nicodemus as told in the third chapter of John. No where in the conversation does Jesus condemn Nicodemus for his possessions, position, or wealth. What Jesus is teaching throughout the gospels is anything we value more than our relationship with God becomes sin. While the most obvious is wealth and riches, there are others that we easily place before the Lord.
Within my own life, the Lord has dealt with me about the things I have placed before Him. Everything from jobs, hobbies, education and degrees, personal relationships, and possessions had to be placed in proper perspective when it came to my relationship with the Lord. These were my possessions and like the young ruler, I was hesitant to give them to the Lord.
Personal sacrifice isn’t easy; what’s the price of your soul?
It is a simple and straightforward question. It actually stopped me in my tracks a couple of years back. As I was trying to balance a career with the Boy Scouts of America, plus the demands of family and my personal responsibilities to the Lord, I soon found myself placing my position before both God and my family. It happened gradually and very much unintentionally. I hadn’t realized how far away from the Lord I had gone until the morning I learned that the council I worked for was being merged with another and my position would be ending by the end of that month. As I began to pray to the Lord for guidance in finding a new job, it was then I realized how far and long I had moved spiritually from where the Lord wanted me.
But the personal sacrifices the Lord asking from me didn’t end there. The apostle Paul wrote, Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ (Philippians 3:8). Before he received Christ as his personal Saviour, Paul (Saul) was well-known. He was a man of great power and authority. He had wealth and possessions. When he became a follower of Jesus, he was willing to sacrifice everything for Jesus. He even wrote to the Christians in Rome, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service (Romans 12:1).
Personal sacrifice pales in comparison to God’s sacrifice
If God were willing to send His own Son to die in my place, then what right do I have to hold onto things that He has laid on my heart to cleanse from my life? It is hard to forget Paul’s reminder, For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s (1 Corinthians 6:20). Almost six months ago, the Lord began again to work within my heart. Since then, I have gotten rid of about 14 inches of CDs, four movies, and am planning to get rid of more as the spirit leads. Was it hard? Yes, when the Lord first began to lay it on my heart to rid myself of them it was extremely hard. But as I continued in my personal devotions I became more convinced there was more to it.
Personal sacrifice is about our obedience to God. It is about putting our faith in Jesus and accepting His lordship over our lives. We must be willing to give every aspect of our life to His lordship.
