We live in a generation of self gratification, where sacrifice seems to be cursed word, and self sacrifice and delayed gratification is viewed as undesirable or wrong. Ours is the ‘what I want I get’ generation, but great nations, families and lives were built on service and sacrifice. It is not possible to serve God without a heart of service or sacrifice.

We had some visitors over on one of my birthdays and after everyone left, this particular couple remained. In between general discussions, the wife paused and said: “one of the things we have never struggled with in the last 10 years of our marriage is our finances. She went further and said, though we are not yet billionaires, we have never struggled to pay house rent, school fees and other bills in ten years”.  I was amazed and she explained. She said it could be traced to the teachings of their pastor while they were single. “He taught us seriously on the importance of sacrifice and compelled us to make sacrifices”. She concluded by saying that it was the financial commitments and sacrifices they made to God while single that spoke for them now.

The husband related a similar event about a lady at the church who gave her only car to God as a sacrifice. The mother of the lady was not pleasedwith this and so she went to the church office and took the car back to her daughter, who collected it. He reported that it had been over ten years and the lady still drove the said car.

Sacrifice seems to be out of the question for the believers of our generation, but if you study the scripture you will realize that it is the foundation of the Christian faith. From the beginning of man, sacrifice has been an integral practice: Noah made a sacrifice to God after the flood, Abraham established an altar of sacrifice everywhere he went, the Israelites made a sacrifice to God before they fled Egypt and sacrificed their gold for the building of the sanctuary. Above all else, God sacrificed His son, Jesus for the redemption of the world.

Sacrifice is uncomfortable, but is a vital precedent to doing well as believers. If you have ever been on a diet, then you must know that the things which are best for you have a tendency to taste the worst, and the things which are bad for you have a tendency to taste the best. In the same way, things that are bad for you may seem to be readily available, while the things which are good for you are not as easy to come across and and may even cost you more.

WHAT IS SACRIFICE WITHOUT AN ALTAR?

It is vital for every believer to have an altar. Your speed in life depends on the power of the altar you sacrifice to, and if you do not raise an altar as a believer, you will be a victim to the demonic altar of another person.

It may be time to reintroduce sacrifice as a way of life and worship. Simply being in church is not enough: worship without sacrifice may not profit you.

Under Samuel’s teaching, David understood sacrifice. He understood that he would not give to God what was cheap. It is safe to say that if it costs you nothing, it is not sacrifice. John Henry said: "ministry that cost nothing, accomplish nothing”.

WHY DO WE SACRIFICE?

Jesus whom we emulate modeled sacrifice. Our lives are not more valuable than Jesus’s but he gave His life to ensure we all have salvation, and the early martyrs understood this. So, it is possible to be a poor Christian, but to be an ungiving christian is simply an error. It goes against the teaching and principle of Jesus. Jesus admonishes us to be like him (Ephesians 5:1-2), and Jesus is the best giver there ever was!

Sacrifice yields eternal rewards. We are motivated by our love for the Lord to “store up our treasures in heaven” by living a life of giving on earth (Mathew 6). If your treasures are in the bank, your heart will be there. In the same way, if your treasures are in God’s kingdom, your heart (effort, service, sacrifice) will be directed towards it. Jim Elliot said “no fool is a man who gives what he can’t keep to gain and what he can’t to lose”.

Sacrifice helps to bring salvation. By selfishness the first Adam condemned the world. But by sacrifice the last Adam saved it (Romans 5:19). Our salvation is only possible because of the gift of sacrifice. And in areas where no one knows about Jesus, the sacrifice of missionaries helps to solve that problem.

Sacrifice changes you: our mind is like a rubber band, if not stretched, it is useless. When we make sacrifices to God, our faith is stretched and itgrows. Many times God leads us out of our comfort zones, but sacrifice is what keeps us out. Elizabeth Elioth Said: "To be a follower of the crucified Christ means, sooner or later a personal encounter with the cross, and the cross always entails loss”.

Furthermore, Paul constantly reminds the Christians that they must follow God’s examples. What then are God’s examples?

* Christ lived His life with love for others and so we must live our lives loving others too (1 John 3:16).

* Christ gave His life for those He loved.

* It is sometimes easier for God to saves souls than it is for Him to save pockets. This means that, though it should be a natural thing to give to God, it feels unnatural. We must emulate Christ’s love and one of the ways He showed His love was by giving.

* nothing frees us from the slavery of selfishness like giving, especially sacrificial giving.

THINGS TO NOTE:

Making sacrifices unto God may feel risky. Let us consider some of the things that keep believers from taking the ‘risk’ of sacrifice:

1. Fear of the unknown: not knowing what the result or effect of your sacrifice will be.

2. Failure: the fear of seeming like an irrational or unwise person, and having no results to prove otherwise.

3. Past experiences: the fear that it may not yield any results like your previous endeavors.

4. Responsibility: the more responsibilities you are saddled with, the less you are willing to take risks.