We Sacrifice Because We Love

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Jesus, John 15:13 This very familiar verse from John’s Gospel reminds us of the ultimate sacrificial act of love that Jesus demonstrated when He freely laid down his life as a sacrifice for each of us…His friends.

Two thoughts: (1) The word for “life” here, and in Luke 9:24-25 and John 10:10, is psuche, which means heart and soul. Giving of one’s heart and soul could result in giving your bios or your physical life. (2) Jesus set the bar for “no greater love” and then…He made the bar. Together, these facts compel us, all the more, to look inward at the vital issues of our own heart…of our motives, our ambitions and our purpose. What will we allow to define us…our carnal, selfish consumer nature or the selfless Christ-life of sacrificial service to others?

“It is the value of the objective that determines the amount of sacrifice in terms of magnitude and duration.” Carl Von Clausewitz, On War (1832) This simple quote from our old pal, Von Clausewitz, was given as part of his brilliant, classical, and first-hand observations of the moral and political aspects of war. It tells us in very clear terms that the value we place on life objectives, like our relationships, can be determined by degrees of sacrifice. Simply stated, it is by our degrees of sacrifice that our wives, our children, our friends, and yes, our God, can determine the value we place on them. Amazing!

Let’s look briefly at what guidance we can glean from Jesus and Clausewitz regarding the word sacrifice. First, we know that life itself is sacred. The word sacrifice is made up of two words, sacer or sacred, and facio, meaning to make. This helps us to gain important insight into the real significance of sacrifice, is to make holy. Next, by the value established in terms of magnitude and duration, Clausewitz defines four levels of sacrifice for us to be aware of. I often tell pastors and other leaders that they have four types of men: those you can depend on to do a little for a short while---those you can depend on to do a little for a long while---those you can depend on to do a lot for a short while---and finally those you can depend on to do a lot for a long while. Some faces usually pop up as we go thru the four types of men.

We know that we are urged in Romans 12:1 to offer our bodies as living sacrifices as an act of worship. We also know that God ordained marriage and we refer to this union as “holy matrimony”. Stepping back from these, and other, cardinal precepts, we can see that sacrifice is anything but an abstract religious concept.

Finally, we know that Jesus held nothing back…He gave all of Himself, heart and soul, and then His life’s blood, as a sacrifice for each of us! In the warrior culture we have this phrase that describes the essence of the Clausewitz quote, All Gave Some…Some Gave All. By willing to sacrifice their heart and soul for each other, forty-four of my squadron mates and forty-six SEALs freely gave their all…their young lives as a sacrifice for their friends.

The question now remains, what is the level of magnitude and duration that will characterize your sacrifice for those you love, for your faith, your heritage and all you cherish and hold dear?