Sacrifice--4: Sacrificial Love
Sacrificial love is love that is unselfish, given freely, without strings attached--without conditions. It means loving the unlovable and the difficult. The Bible says we should love others as we love ourselves. It does not say we should love people who love us, or people who are charming and nice to us, or people who are of the same nationality or belief system. It simply says we should love others--that means all others. Such loving requires the best of us.
I have found a couple of blogs that talk about sacrificial love. Here is, in part, what they say.
RLC of “Eternal Joy” (fightingforeternaljoy.blogspot.com) says the only truly rewarding kind of love is that which is based on giving of ourselves:
I think most people lack love in their lives because they give so little. The woman who neglects her children and her marriage will find very little fulfillment in either. She will spend her time looking for love when all the while it could be found in her home. When we invest in the lives of others, especially those who God has placed in our homes, we will find satisfaction. The world teaches us it is better to receive than to give, but our Savior said just the opposite. Throughout the Scripture we see that when we meet the needs of others God will meet our needs (see Isaiah 58).
I have seen countless young mothers refuse to discipline their child "because they just want to show them love." What they don't understand is that love often comes in the form of discipline. The Scripture teaches that if God does not discipline us then we know that we are not truly His children. Our culture is in direct opposition to a Biblical worldview. The world tells us to satiate our children's desires rather than train them. We must come to grips with the fact that we have been given a trust from God. Our children are given to us not so that we can give them what they believe is their hearts desire. Rather, we are the adults who have much more experience and wisdom. As believers in Jesus Christ, we have the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. We are called to do what is for their benefit whether it pleases them or not. I once heard a mother say "we are not called to make them happy, but to make them holy." A superficial happiness that comes with always having things their way is not what will make our children truly happy or holy. Of course, we cuddle them and laugh and play with them, but if we refuse to cross their will to teach them self-control and self-denial then we are not truly loving them. If we love them we will prepare them for a life of obedience and service to the Almighty Creator of the universe. And if we serve the Lord with joy, by God's grace, so will they.
Steve of "Harvest Boston" (http://www.harvestboston.net) says that he and some people he works with are tossing around the idea of setting up a neighborhood housing program.
I can see that this idea is based on the concept of sacrificial love: They’re called “Friendship Houses,” and the idea is that Christians live in a house in a depressed area, offering physical and spiritual help to their neighbors on a daily basis, befriending people — that sorta thing. The project may even get some government grants because of its emphasis on community regeneration and social justice. I am thrilled by the idea of “Friendship Houses.” Thrilled because they really have the potential to change the spiritual and physical landscape of our city. Christians refusing to say “come to us” for help and ministry, but literally landing in the middle of people’s neighborhoods and lives. The house is going to be a “safe place” for neighbors to hang out, talk, eat meals, or seek guidance. Amazing concept.
“Friendship Houses” also sadden me a little bit as well. Not the concept, per se, but the fact that the concept is considered “radical” or “out of the box” compared to the traditional ministry forms in Abilene and in many places. Shouldn’t every Christian home be a “Friendship House? Shouldn’t the concept of being “salt and light” in our neighborhoods be embedded in each believer from “new birth”? Shouldn’t service to the needy around us be a natural part of the Christ-life? Isn’t “radical hospitality” (the radical openness of ourselves and our homes to those around us) a virtue that all Christians should espouse?
Yes. Amen.
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