It is said that the biological father makes a so-called contribution to the pregnancy--his seed--but the mother makes the sacrifice! Her whole life is changed--sometimes ruined--while to him it's just a minor inconvenience or interruption! She can't really get out of it, but often the man escapes and divorces or abandons the woman, even with the kids. Most men see their sole role as being the basic breadwinner, provider, or the one charged to bring home the bacon, while the wife is to raise the kids and do all the legwork as it were. This is because love is oft spelled T-I-M-E! As they say: a woman's work is never done. Parents have a lot invested in their children and the more investment, the deeper love; you can give without love, but you cannot love without giving.
True sacrifice is when you suffer or give up something, not when you do something you would've done despite the benefits. The ultimate sacrifice is really only done in the line of duty when a soldier gets killed in action, for example. This compares to Christ making the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf at the cross because He didn't have to die at all if He hadn't chosen to save us by His substitutionary death. The sacrificial type of living is when we live for others and not ourselves, and think of others first and what we can do for them, not what they can do for us.
Christ's atonement on the cross has been rightly termed the "mother of all sacrifices," in that it costs the most and also accomplished the most as a result--it was the infinite worth of the death of the Lamb of God and it accomplished our priceless, eternal redemption, propitiation, reconciliation, justification, and complete salvation. To elaborate on the multifaceted atonement: we were redeemed from the slave market of sin--the penalty was paid; we were justified in the court of God's law--becoming righteous; we were reconciled back into God's family with the relationship restored, and we have been propitiated in God's temple in that God paid the price to set us free and avert us from His wrath.
We behold, therefore, God's love manifested and in full display at the cross, whereby He gave all of Himself till it literally hurt and He actually did bleed on our behalf--we must likewise give of ourselves--noting God wants us, not our achievements, and not just what God gives us to be stewards of, as we go about "contributing to the needs of the saints." Christ gave it all for us, and our crosses pale in comparison to His, as He doesn't ask us to give of anything He didn't accomplish Himself in exempting Himself of no pain nor suffering, we could possibly imagine.
In sum, true love is always sacrificial, some people have never made any sacrifice for anything, especially the offering of our blood, sweat, and tears and we ought to challenge ourselves with the question of whether our love is inherently sacrificial--having something to lose--or is it just contributory, but going above and beyond the call of duty: this means we ought to give till it hurts, not just what we can afford, for it to be sacrificial, and that necessities not giving God our leftovers of time, resources, energy, opportunities, money, interests, passions, abilities, experiences, talents, gifts, relationships, and what not, but putting Him in first place amongst our priorities--rearranging everything to His agenda! Soli Deo Gloria!
True sacrifice is when you suffer or give up something, not when you do something you would've done despite the benefits. The ultimate sacrifice is really only done in the line of duty when a soldier gets killed in action, for example. This compares to Christ making the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf at the cross because He didn't have to die at all if He hadn't chosen to save us by His substitutionary death. The sacrificial type of living is when we live for others and not ourselves, and think of others first and what we can do for them, not what they can do for us.
Christ's atonement on the cross has been rightly termed the "mother of all sacrifices," in that it costs the most and also accomplished the most as a result--it was the infinite worth of the death of the Lamb of God and it accomplished our priceless, eternal redemption, propitiation, reconciliation, justification, and complete salvation. To elaborate on the multifaceted atonement: we were redeemed from the slave market of sin--the penalty was paid; we were justified in the court of God's law--becoming righteous; we were reconciled back into God's family with the relationship restored, and we have been propitiated in God's temple in that God paid the price to set us free and avert us from His wrath.
We behold, therefore, God's love manifested and in full display at the cross, whereby He gave all of Himself till it literally hurt and He actually did bleed on our behalf--we must likewise give of ourselves--noting God wants us, not our achievements, and not just what God gives us to be stewards of, as we go about "contributing to the needs of the saints." Christ gave it all for us, and our crosses pale in comparison to His, as He doesn't ask us to give of anything He didn't accomplish Himself in exempting Himself of no pain nor suffering, we could possibly imagine.
In sum, true love is always sacrificial, some people have never made any sacrifice for anything, especially the offering of our blood, sweat, and tears and we ought to challenge ourselves with the question of whether our love is inherently sacrificial--having something to lose--or is it just contributory, but going above and beyond the call of duty: this means we ought to give till it hurts, not just what we can afford, for it to be sacrificial, and that necessities not giving God our leftovers of time, resources, energy, opportunities, money, interests, passions, abilities, experiences, talents, gifts, relationships, and what not, but putting Him in first place amongst our priorities--rearranging everything to His agenda! Soli Deo Gloria!