Episode 322: I’m Talkin. . .Sacrifice

I’m Talking, episode 322 for June 16th, 2024.

This is Joel from the I’m Talking microcast, where I share my thoughts on a topic that has piqued my interest this past week.

This week, we’re talking sacrifice.

Sacrifice is a difficult word for many people.

In fact, I think the world that we live in really doesn’t like that word at all.

I think that we live in a society that wants people to put themselves first.

It’s kind of like you owe me type of thing.

It’s a me first mentality that we often see in the world in which we live.

And therein lies the challenge for those of us who call ourselves Christians.

In a world of me first, the word sacrifice is difficult.

As a Christian, we know that that is something that we need to think about on the regular.

This week is really a shout out to my wife, who has spent the last week watching our two grandchildren while their parents are on vacation.

That to me and her life in general is a perfect measure of the word sacrifice.

And we have a perfect example set by Jesus Christ.

We know that he came to this earth, set aside all of his or the majority of his deity, although he was still 100% God, and sacrificed his own life for us on the cross so that we could be saved.

One of the acronyms that we use as Christians, maybe you’ve heard of it before, is the word joy.

And it really talks about how do we get joy out of sacrifice or out of life in general at times, other things.

But today we’re talking about sacrifice.

And so as an acronym, we think of joy as Jesus, others, and you.

And that is a good definition of sacrifice.

You’re putting others before yourself.

And you’re doing that because you think of Jesus first.

And you are thinking of others as not necessarily better than you, but more important.

You need to put their thoughts, their feelings.

At times we have to take a step backwards.

We have to be willing to sacrifice our own comfort, our own place of security.

We have to be able to look at others as important enough for us to do things differently, to do things that might be out of our comfort zone.

And we have that example in Jesus and the way he lived when he was on the face of the earth.

And so sacrifice needs to become almost second nature.

And that is a difficult thing to do.

But Jesus not only gave us an example, but he left us with the power to do exactly that.

And that’s because he sent the helper, the Holy Spirit to live within everyone who calls on the name of Christ.

And in that power, we can sacrifice and find joy in serving others.

Until next week, this is Joel from the I’m Talking Microcast.

Thanks for watching.

I’m your host, Joel.

I’ll see you next week.