The Gift of Sacrifice
The ability to sacrifice with ungrudging grace is a gift from God. Most of us practice sacrifice as an art form—we’ve not been given the natural talent or disposition required, but we are willing to work toward the goal.
Witness our approach to Lent. We sneak up on it, spring a sudden resolution that is never really meant to effect our lives in any substantial way and then wail our way through Lent having failed time and again to keep that promise. Now, this is the harsh view. What God sees are small children who, given a pair of scissors for the first time, attempt to cut out figures but can only cut out straight lines. Nevertheless, we continue cutting. And this is what God looks at--not at the failure to make a perfect razor sharp cut-out, but at our willingness to try, despite our lack of skill.
The true grace of sacrifice comes not from a Lenten promise or from a momentary thought that something may or may not be good for us. True grace comes from loving God above all else. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." When God is first in our lives, all else follows. Sacrifice is not a labor, but a wonderful opportunity to show how much we love Him.
This Lent, while we keep our momentary resolutions, let us also pray for the grace to truly sacrifice all of our petty concerns. Let us pray for the grace to truly love God above all else and to be obedient to His commands so that our lives may be transformed into the image of Him that He needs us to be in the world today.
