Safety or Freedom?

Safety only comes at the cost of freedom. Last week we honored those that fought for our freedom while forsaking safety all together. This week many are willing to forego freedom in order to be safe though more accurately what we’re hearing are folks willing to forfeit the actual safety and freedom of others in order to keep themselves from improbable or even imagined danger. Greatness and cowardice both use the word sacrifice, the later is willing to sacrifice others, the former knows that’s not sacrifice at all and is disposed to offer themselves first. Let’s choose greatness.

Jesus doesn’t promise us safety, He offers us freedom.

Liberty that’s not shared is not liberty at all!

The Greater Good

Jesus didn’t and doesn’t play to the crowd; He’s always seeking the person as opposed to the people. We on the other hand are repeatedly sacrificing individuals in the name of what’s best for all. The greater good is usually a smokescreen for having it my way which doesn’t seem like Jesus at all.

Love Follow Up

Love is a choice, it must be freely pursued. Love is also selfless; it does not seek its own. Therefore, how and why are much more relevant to our conversation on love and obligation than what or when. I guess it doesn’t matter what we call it: duty, obligation or even expectation as long as the motivation is love. I freely choose to love and am willing to take whatever may come with it. Lastly we can’t forget the sacrificial aspect of true love, choosing to surrender.

Leader

One of the reasons Jesus was killed was because He didn’t come to be our leader en masse.

Our Finest

The finest gifts we bring are sacrificial.

Sacrifice is Never Easy

Sometimes we get giving and sacrifice confused. Sacrifice always costs a lot, giving can but they aren’t necessarily the same thing.

Bigger and Better

“We’ve all given up something at one time or another. At first it always feels like a huge sacrifice to give up what we’ve got. To Jesus though, it’s no sacrifice at all. Think about it from His perspective. He comes from heaven, where He has an amazing love relationship with the Father, which, by its nature, is the most beautiful existence any person could have. And He offers that to anybody willing to let go of whatever is giving them a false sense of security. Why would anybody not make that trade? Jesus is basically saying, “Look, none of the stuff you have is going to last, including you. You’ve only got a dime’s worth of life now. Come and trade up, come follow Me, and you can know God.” In that sense, Jesus isn’t requesting a sacrifice at all. He’s asking us to play Bigger and Better, where we give up ourselves and end up with Him.” – Bob Goff, Love Does

Then

Then we can see God’s power working in us and through us. And what will be seen is love. Love is the anti self. I would define love as when you care more about someone than you do yourself. Jesus says love is the first and only commandment that all the law and prophets hang on this one thing. Love by nature is sacrificial. Christ’s example of love was sacrifice. Scripture says we are to die to self. When we come to understand this simple truth the results are astounding. Not only do we join God in changing the world, we are changed into His likeness and the futile pursuit of emptiness is replaced with the peace and fulfillment that only a life with Him can bring.

Passion

We commemorate the two greatest events in human History this weekend and it’s wonderful that we make a big deal out the death and resurrection of our Lord each year. But what if we took the celebration to a whole new level? What if throughout each day we took to heart the perfect love that Christ’s sacrifice demonstrated and were perpetually thankful? What if we walked through each day with the confidence that Jesus’ resurrection truly did finish it, that the battle is won and that our place with the Father is just as secure as His? Now that would be a Holyday.

Fasting

Fasting is one of the things alluded to in yesterday’s post. It’s a powerful spiritual tool for the purpose of getting closer to God. The power in fasting is rooted in sacrifice, denying ourselves. However if we deny ourselves food but look to get honor from others because we are fasting, then we may as well order up a Big Mac because the how and why are all wrong.