Sacrifice as a measure of love! II

Greetings to you, dear readers of our Daily Word for Spiritual Strength column! I thank God for everyone of you and I pray that you do not become cold in your thirst for the Word of God and His wisdom.We are continuing talking about what love is and what the measure for our love is.Love is not feelings, it is self-sacrifice, but self-sacrifice – it is decision.Of course, there are feelings in love. But, if we love God, our mutual relationships with God do not consist of feelings alone.The Bible talks about people whom God calls His friends. Why were these people special? All of them proved their love for God with self-sacrifice. They did not afford themselves do many things only because they loved God and longed for friendship with Him.The level of my self-sacrifice determines how much I love God!Let us look at the life of Noah.
“The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.  So the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.”  But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD.  This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.” (Genesis 6:5-9)
In the times of Noah, people lives the way they wanted, they did what their lusts and feelings dictated. But apart from everybody else, Noah sacrificed his feelings due to his friendship with God, and thus he saved his family.Why did Noah not live the way others lived? Because he loved God! With his pure and righteous life in the wicked world, Noah showed his love for God. It was more important for Noah what God tells him, than what people do or say. IT was more important for Noah to maintain a love relationship with God, than to be accepted by people.The Bible says that Noah built an altar for God after the floods.
“Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.”Genesis 8:20).
 This is another way to Noah showed his love for God. Everyone who loves God builds the altar for God. When we talk about sacrifice, it is definitely about the altar. Altar to God is a sign of your love for God! In his generation, Noah was the only such example. Noah built the altar for God, because he constantly saw God’s grace in his life and in his family’s life and it triggered in him love and gratitude to God.What were you willing to sacrifice to show God that you love Him? A true sacrifice will always cost us something. Your love for God and readiness to please Him might not be accepted by your relatives or friends, therefore they can even deny you. Your love for God will require from you holy life, change of habits and many other things. Love for God has nothing common with sin. Are you still ready to choose the way to love God and therefore sacrifice everything that you will be asked to? It is something to think about!If we return to the story about Noah, we know that all human race, except Noah and his family, was wiped out because of evil of sin.
„This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19).
 Sin always leads to death. The love that sacrifices itself always gets rewarded, and the main reward is life, filled with meaning and God’s blessings. May the Lord bless you!Until tomorrow!Pastor Rufus Ajiboye

Support us so we can do more

We’ll get right to the point: we’re asking you to help us support our Church online minisry. We’re a nonprofit that relies on support from people like you. If everyone reading this gives €12 monthly, Spirit and Truth city Church can continue to thrive for years.

Similar Posts

  • Where to get joy?

    «The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes» (Psalm 19:8-9).This passage of Scriptures tells us that one of the sources of joy is God’s Word, meditation on the Word and the perception of the (our) world through the prism of the Word. That is why it is so important for us to realize that if we want to remain in joy and learn to draw joy, we must grow in love with God’s Word.
  • The Bible calls us to ALWAYS PRAY AND NOT LOSE HEART

    The whole world lies in wickedness and darkness, but, looking at the people that have made prayer their priority #1, you realize that – so to speak – they are from another planet; they do not live in darkness because they seem shining. They have problems and their life is not any different, but they approach their problems in a different way and they look forward into the future in a different way. Prayer so alters their lives and strengthens their relationships with God that they do not notice things that others do.
  • What is a breakthrough?

    In order to experience a breakthrough, it is necessary to understand what it is and why we need it.These are some explanations what is meant when we talk about breakthrough:Breakthrough – it destroys any barriers (satanic or human) that put limitations in our lives. Breakthrough – it changes your tragedies into testimonies. Breakthrough – it turns your illnesses into wellbeing. Breakthrough – it changes your disappointments into opportunities. Breakthrough – it provides transition from hardships to comfort.
  • Let God do His work in your life. There is only good in Him!

    God was following His goal – to change His prophet character. God also wants to change me and you. To accomplish this goal He would allow serious problems in our life, if necessary. God can destroy things that prevent us from changing, because He can easily create the same things again afterwards.
  • Be faithful in small things; then God will set you over many things!

    The Lord is coming again! And this parable is prophetic. Jesus is our Lord and He is returning! When He comes back, He will reward every person as he or she deserves. Jesus also will condemn those who deserve it. Verse 19 says that the master came „after a long time”. It means that Jesus is coming at the time when He won’t be expected. But it also means we need to be alert. We must be alert!
  • What other effects of unforgiveness can we see?

    Unforgiveness destroys godly relationships and causes splits in the Body of Christ.There is so much chaos in the Church of Jesus Christ because of offended people. Many of them are not able to fellowship with one another and built friendship due to offenses and the fear of rejection. Many people build huge walls around them due to unforgiveness. They receive new „revelations” that separate them from the other people even more and make them passive.