Friday is For Finances: The Year of Sacrifice

2010 was the year of sacrifice for the Groces.  Through reading and meditating on Scripture, Mandy and I felt the weight of God’s command to care for the fatherless (James 1:27, Isaiah 1:17) and decided to adopt a second time from Ethiopia.  We did not know where the $25k was going to come from, but knew it would take sacrifice and hard work.

We stopped eating out, cancelled our zoo membership, and moved the thermostat in an uncomfortable direction.  Mandy started taking side jobs illustrating, and we ate a lot of beans and rice.  I gave up my savings for my dream car, a 1966 Bronco.  Whenever our kids asked us why we couldn’t go to the zoo or get some pizza, we would talk about their sister who was waiting for us.  Every penny got us closer to her.

When we think back on that year we don’t remember the hot nights and how much we missed the elephants.  Instead we remember seeing Zinnia for the first time, and how we all collapsed around her in tears of joy.   She is worth a thousand years of eating beans and rice.

Now that the year of pain is over, I am challenged with continual sacrifice.  What if we continue to forfeit those same luxuries year in and year out for the sake of the kingdom?   I am not saying that we should sell all our possessions, grow our hair out and live in a cave.  Instead our life should be permeated by giving up our wants for the temporary for the sake of the eternal.  Think about your life in contrast to the sacrifice of Paul:

“Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.” (2 Corinthians 11:24-27)

The truth of Scripture is that we are continually called to live a life of sacrifice for others, not ourselves.  My dad recently reminded me that “when we become Christians, we are no longer our own, but His; When we get married we are no longer our own but hers; When we have kids we are no longer our own but there for them. The Christian life is a life in all areas for others.”  Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ sacrificed his life for us.  Likewise, we need to be sacrificial with our whole life, giving freely of our time, talent, and resources.  What practical ways can you give yourself for the advancement of the kingdom?

One final thought on balance.  As Christians we have the freedom to enjoy and savor the good gifts that the Father gives us.  We can take pleasure in an amazing meal, a warm house or a daughter finally brought home, giving thanks to the Giver of all good things.  A verse that exemplifies this balance is Proverbs 30:8-9: “give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.”  We should cultivate hearts that are incessantly looking to give thanks to God while continually seeking to be self-sacrificing for God, all because God sacrificed for us.