Be.Loved. 25 Simple Acts of Love to Change a LifeSample

 DAY 14: Offer something in your home to another person

“Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table.” – Matthew 26:6-7 

When you hear the word ‘sacrifice’, what immediately comes to mind? Perhaps you think of a single mom working three jobs to pay the bills, or the 40-something man simultaneously raising his own kids while being the sole caregiver for his aging parents. 

A quick definition tells us that sacrifice is “destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else.” Think Jesus. He was the model of ultimate sacrifice for the sake of ‘something else’—us. He surrendered his life for the sake of our eternal lives. 

His sacrifice accomplished what it set out to do, but it also served as a model of how we are to live. For those who have been a Christian for some amount of time, the idea of ‘dying to self’ is not new. In fact, it can be pretty uncomfortable if we are honest. 

But dying to self is a way of life that models Jesus’ life. We are, in essence, declaring others’ needs as more important than our own. We are honoring people in a way that few do today. And we continue the ministry of Jesus in our world. 

Sacrifice is not necessarily measured by the extent of what you offer, but by the heart behind each act of love. 

Today, look around your home and consider what you might offer to another person for the sake of love. Do you know of a local shelter looking for shoe or coat donations? Sacrificially give. Maybe there are refugee families looking for furniture donations. Can that extra couch go? Or perhaps your 86-year-old neighbor is out mowing her lawn each week. Take your mower and help her out.

What can you sacrifice today for another? Go and do it. 

Consider how you felt doing this, what God did in this gesture, and how you might develop a more intentional sacrificial lifestyle in the coming days and weeks.