Paul tells the folks in Corinth (II Cor. 12:15) that he will gladly spend and be spent for them. His life was not his, but His and theirs. Their well being in Christ was for him a delightful sacrifice. A sacrifice that he was more than willing to give.
As I look at my life, it seems that any sacrifice that I have made, or still make, is one that is convenient for me. In fact the term, convenient sacrifice, is an oxymoron. It is really no sacrifice if it is not of a cost to me (a real cost).
A sacrifice in baseball can fall into both categories. In a game if a batter gives up an opportunity for gain for himself by helping another runner get to second base, that is called a sacrifice. If you transpose that scene into the last game of the season, where the batter sacrifices the runner to the next base so the team might have a chance to win the game, but in doing that he sacrifices his chance to win the league batting title with its attendant glory, that is real.
My attitude toward sacrifice does not come close to the one Paul talked about. He was willing to give up everything so that some others might be won to Jesus Christ. Mine are so piddling that they would not even fit on the scale,
Recognizing these deficiencies in my life is easy, being willing to follow Paul and Jesus in their example will take sacrifice, and not just the convenient type.
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